Year: 2008
Type: article
Abstract: We present an optical/near-infrared search for a counterpart to the perplexing radio transient GCRT J1745–3009, a source located ~1° from the Galactic center. Motivated by some similarities to radio bursts from nearby ultracool dwarfs, and by a distance upper limit of 70 pc for the emission to not violate the 10 12 K brightness temperature limit for incoherent radiation, we searched for a nearby star at the position of GCRT J1745–3009. We found only a single marginal candidate, limiting the presence of any late-type star to >1 kpc (spectral types earlier than M9), >200 pc (spectral types L and T0-T4), and >100 pc (spectral types T4-T7), thus severely restricting the possible local counterparts to GCRT J1745–3009. We also exclude any white dwarf within 1 kpc or a supergiant star out to the distance of the Galactic center as possible counterparts. This implies that GCRT J1745–3009 likely requires a coherent emission process, although whether or not it reflects a new class of sources is unclear.
Source: The Astrophysical Journal
DOI: 10.1086/591436
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funders: National Science Foundation, Smithsonian Institution, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Space Telescope Science Institute, Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica, Office of Naval Research
OpenAlex ID: W1972169267