Long-period transients are repeating radio pulses of mysterious origin with minute-to-hour periods. The longest-lived of these — GPM J1839–10 — is now shown to be a binary system and seemingly mirrors the more rapid white dwarf pulsars, in which interaction of a stellar remnant with a companion star generates powerful radio beams.
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References
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This is a summary of: Horváth, C. et al. A binary model of long-period radio transients and white dwarf pulsars. Nat. Astron. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-025-02760-y (2026).
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Link between long-period transients and white dwarf pulsars. Nat Astron (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-026-02776-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-026-02776-y