Long-period radio transients are a new class of astrophysical objects that exhibit periodic radio emission on timescales of tens of minutes. Their true nature remains unknown; possibilities include magnetic white dwarfs, binary systems, or long-period magnetars; the latter class is predicted to produce fast radio bursts (FRBs). Using the MeerKAT radio telescope, we conducted follow-up observations of the long-period radio transient GPM J1839-10. Here we report that the source exhibits a wide range of unusual emission properties, including polarization characteristics indicative of magnetospheric origin, linear-to-circular polarization conversion, and drifting substructures closely resembling those observed in repeating FRBs. These radio characteristics provide evidence in support of the long-period magnetar model and suggest a possible connection between long-period radio transients, magnetars, and FRBs.
@article{arxiv.2501.10528,
title = {A highly magnetized long-period radio transient exhibiting unusual emission features},
author = {Yunpeng Men and Sam McSweeney and Natasha Hurley-Walker and Ewan Barr and Ben Stappers},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2501.10528},
year = {2025}
}