1. A nearby repeating fast radio burst in the direction of M81
- Author
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Kiyoshi Masui, Emmanuel Fonseca, V. M. Kaspi, Bryan Gaensler, I. H. Stairs, M. Mnchmeyer, Cherry Ng, Calvin Leung, M. A. Dobbs, Mohit Bhardwaj, A. Cook, P. J. Boyle, Shriharsh P. Tendulkar, M. Rafiei-Ravandi, Kendrick M. Smith, T. L. Landecker, Ziggy Pleunis, P. Chawla, Daniele Michilli, J. F. Kaczmarek, B. C. Andersen, A. V. Zwaniga, P. Scholz, T. Cassanelli, R. Mckinven, and Kyung-Hoon Shin
- Subjects
radio bursts ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Point source ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Milky Way ,FOS: Physical sciences ,transient sources ,Astrophysics ,01 natural sciences ,0103 physical sciences ,010303 astronomy & astrophysics ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,media_common ,Physics ,High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena (astro-ph.HE) ,Spiral galaxy ,Fast radio burst ,Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment ,Astronomy and Astrophysics ,Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies ,Interstellar medium ,Space and Planetary Science ,Sky ,Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) ,radio transient sources ,Astrophysics - High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena ,radio pulsars ,Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope - Abstract
We report on the discovery of FRB 20200120E, a repeating fast radio burst (FRB) with low dispersion measure (DM), detected by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME)/FRB project. The source DM of 87.82 pc cm$^{-3}$ is the lowest recorded from an FRB to date, yet is significantly higher than the maximum expected from the Milky Way interstellar medium in this direction (~ 50 pc cm$^{-3}$). We have detected three bursts and one candidate burst from the source over the period 2020 January-November. The baseband voltage data for the event on 2020 January 20 enabled a sky localization of the source to within $\simeq$ 14 sq. arcmin (90% confidence). The FRB localization is close to M81, a spiral galaxy at a distance of 3.6 Mpc. The FRB appears on the outskirts of M81 (projected offset $\sim$ 20 kpc) but well inside its extended HI and thick disks. We empirically estimate the probability of chance coincidence with M81 to be $< 10^{-2}$. However, we cannot reject a Milky Way halo origin for the FRB. Within the FRB localization region, we find several interesting cataloged M81 sources and a radio point source detected in the Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS). We searched for prompt X-ray counterparts in Swift/BAT and Fermi/GBM data, and for two of the FRB 20200120E bursts, we rule out coincident SGR 1806$-$20-like X-ray bursts. Due to the proximity of FRB 20200120E, future follow-up for prompt multi-wavelength counterparts and sub-arcsecond localization could be constraining of proposed FRB models., Published to ApJL
- Published
- 2021
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