SAX J1810.8−2609: an outbursting neutron star X-ray binary with persistent spatially coincident radio emission

Abstract

ABSTRACT Here, we report on joint X-ray and radio monitoring of the neutron star low-mass X-ray binary SAX J1810.8−2609. Our monitoring covered the entirety of its ${\sim }\, 5\,$ month outburst in 2021, revealing a temporal correlation between its radio and X-ray luminosity and X-ray spectral properties consistent with a ‘hard-only’ outburst. During the outburst, the best-fitting radio position shows significant variability, suggesting emission from multiple locations on the sky. Furthermore, our 2023 follow-up observations revealed a persistent, unresolved, steep spectrum radio source ${\sim }\, 2\,$ yr after SAX J1810.8−2609 returned to X-ray quiescence. We investigated potential origins of the persistent emission, which included an unrelated background source, long-lasting jet ejection(s), and SAX J1810 as a transitional millisecond pulsar. While the chance coincidence probability is low (${\lesssim }\, 0.16~{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$), an unrelated background source remains the most likely scenario. SAX J1810.8−2609 goes into outburst every ${\sim }\, 5\,$ yr, so monitoring of the source during its next outburst at higher sensitivities and improved spatial resolutions (e.g. with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array or Square Kilometre Array) should be able to identify two components (if the persistent emission originates from a background source). If only one source is observed, this would be strong evidence that the persistent emission is local SAX J1810.8−2609, and future monitoring campaigns should focus on understanding the underlying physical mechanisms, as no neutron star X-ray binary has shown a persistent radio signal absent any simultaneous X-ray emission.