Periodic radio emission from a rapidly rotating T8 ultracool dwarf

Abstract

We report the discovery of periodic radio bursts from the T8 brown dwarf WISE J151721.13+052929.3 (WISE J1517+05), detected with ASKAP and MeerKAT. The emission is characterised by a stable periodicity of $1.149 \pm 0.002$ hr, placing WISE J1517+05 among the fastest rotating radio-detected ultracool dwarfs (UCDs). The radio bursts are broadband and highly variable, reaching a peak spectral luminosity of $L_ν = 5.6 \times 10^{15}\,\mathrm{erg\,s^{-1}\,Hz^{-1}}$, making WISE J1517+05 the brightest periodic UCD to date. The high brightness temperature of the radio bursts ($T_B>10^{11}$ K), combined with the rotational modulation, strongly favour an auroral electron cyclotron maser emission (ECME) origin. In contrast to most known radio-bursting UCDs, the bursts exhibit relatively low and variable circular polarisation fractions (typically $\sim 20\%$). These properties suggest significant depolarisation of intrinsically highly polarised ECME, likely due to propagation effects in a structured magnetospheric plasma. Notably, we also observe a polarisation reversal within a single burst profile, which is currently unexplained. We model the emission using a dipolar magnetic field with emission arising from a single active field line, and find a moderate inclination angle of $i = 47.9^{+11.4}_{-9.2}$ degrees and a magnetic obliquity of $β= 40.1^{+9.2}_{-10.9}$ degrees. WISE J1517+05 expands the parameter space of radio-active UCDs toward higher luminosities and lower polarisation fractions, suggesting that current surveys may be sensitive to a larger population than previously recognised, while searches relying on methods that assume high circular polarisation fractions risk missing a subset of UCDs. More broadly, this discovery reinforces the idea that rapid rotation plays a key role in generating strong dipolar magnetic fields in UCDs that can give rise to auroral radio emission.