The Transient Radio Sky

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiii

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2. Introduction: Radio Transients

   • Evan Francis Keane

   Pages 1-13

3. Neutron Stars

   • Evan Francis Keane

   Pages 15-39

4. On the Birthrates of Galactic Neutron Stars

   • Evan Francis Keane

   Pages 41-59

5. PMSingle: A Re-Analysis of the Parkes Multi-Beam Pulsar Survey in Search of RRATs

   • Evan Francis Keane

   Pages 61-99

6. Timing Observations of RRATs

   • Evan Francis Keane

   Pages 101-122

7. Timing Solutions for Newly Discovered Sources

   • Evan Francis Keane

   Pages 123-135

8. X-ray and Optical Observations of RRATs

   • Evan Francis Keane

   Pages 137-148

9. RRATs: An Overview

   • Evan Francis Keane

   Pages 149-156

10. Conclusions

    • Evan Francis Keane

    Pages 157-169

11. Back Matter

    Pages 171-190

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The high time-resolution radio sky represents unexplored astronomical territory. This thesis presents a study of the transient radio sky, focussing on millisecond scales. As such, the work is concerned primarily with neutron stars. In particular this research concentrates on a recently identified group of neutron stars, known as RRATs, which exhibit radio bursts every few minutes to every few hours. After analysing neutron star birthrates, a re-analysis of the Parkes Multibeam Pulsar Survey is described which has resulted in the discovery of 19 new transient radio sources. Of these, 12 have been seen to repeat and a follow-up campaign of observations has been undertaken. These studies have greatly increased our knowledge of the rotational properties of RRATs and enable us to conclude that they are pulsars with extreme nulling and/or pulse-to-pulse modulation. Although the evolution of neutron stars post-supernova is not yet understood, it seems that RRATs fit into the emerging picture in which pulsar magnetospheres switch between stable configurations.

• Neutron Stars
• Neutron Stars thesis
• Parkes Multibeam Pulsar Survey
• Pulsar Properties
• Pulsar Surveys
• Pulsar Timing
• Radio Astronomy
• Radio Transients
• Radio-Emitting Neutron Stars
• properties of RRATs

• Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom

  Evan Francis Keane

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