Abstract

Contributed Talk - Splinter JungeAG

Tuesday, 10 September 2024, 15:49   (S25)

Exploring Radio Point Sources in the Galactic Center using S Band of MeerKAT

Kamalpreet Kaur
Argelander Institute for Astronomy, University of Bonn, Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy

The Galactic Center, despite the high stellar density and the presence of numerous supernova remnants, suggests a significant population of neutron stars but very few pulsars have been discovered in this region. One of the reasons could be the smearing of pulses due to scattering, which obscures pulsar signals in the time domain. To get rid of the effects of scattering, one can search these sources at higher frequencies where the effects are minimal. However, in general, pulsars have a steep negative spectral index, resulting in very weak flux at these high frequencies, making their detection challenging. This issue can be mitigated by searching for pulsars using image-based methods. If found, pulsars in the Galactic Center can be used as tools for numerous studies, including probing theories of gravity, galactic magnetic fields, as well as the nature of the interstellar medium, to name a few.
 In this study, we use MeerKAT S-band data with an effective bandwidth of 875 MHz at 3.06 GHz to image a 0.42° region around the Sgr A. Calibration procedures, including reference and self-calibration, yield high-resolution images with a restoring beam of 2.96” × 1.77” . Using a source finder followed by visual inspection, we identified 18 new unresolved sources and those with ring-like structures for further analysis. We also derive the in-band spectral index which, in addition to compactness evaluation, refined the selection to 7 point sources. Cross-referencing with multi-wavelength data identified 2 promising pulsar candidates that are compact and have a steep negative spectral index, with one candidate also exhibiting a potential X-ray counterpart.
 This research contributes to resolving the missing pulsar problem in the Galactic Center. The future prospects include adding polarization calibration and more pointings in the Galactic Center region to identify pulsar candidates using the S band of MeerKAT.