Persistent and Transient Blank Field Sources

Abstract

Blank field sources (BFS) are good candidates for hosting dim isolated neutron stars (DINS). The results of a search of BFS in the ROSAT HRI images are revised. We then focus on transient BFS, arguing that they belong to a rather large population. The perspectives of future research on DINS are then discussed.Comment: 3 pages, 0 figures. Paper presented at the Conference "Isolated Neutron Stars: from the interior to the surface", London, April 2006. Astrophysics and Space Science, in pres