GCRT J1742-3001: A New Radio Transient Towards the Galactic Center

We report the detection of a new transient radio source, GCRT J1742-3001, located ~1 degree from the Galactic center. The source was detected ten times from late 2006 to 2007 May in our 235 MHz transient monitoring program with the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT). The radio emission brightened in about one month, reaching a peak observed flux density of ~100 mJy on 2007 January 28, and decaying to ~50 mJy by 2007 May when our last monitoring observation was made. Two additional faint, isolated 235 MHz detections were made in mid-2006, also with the GMRT. GCRT J1742-3001 is unresolved at each epoch, with typical resolutions of ~20 arcsec x 10 arcsec. No polarization information is available from the observations. Based on nondetections in observations obtained simultaneously at 610 MHz, we deduce that the spectrum of GCRT J1742-3001 is very steep, with a spectral index less than about -2. Follow-up radio observations in 2007 September at 330 MHz and 1.4 GHz, and in 2008 February at 235 MHz yielded no detections. No X-ray counterpart is detected in a serendipitous observation obtained with the X-ray telescope aboard the Swift satellite during the peak of the radio emission in early 2007. We consider the possibilities that GCRT J1742-3001 is either a new member of an existing class of radio transients, or is representative of a new class having no associated X-ray emission.