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Is the M81 Fast Radio Burst Host Globular Cluster Special?

Authors :
Kristen C. Dage
Arash Bahramian
Clancy W. James
Arunav Kundu
Katherine L. Rhode
Jay Strader
Enrico Vesperini
Stephen E. Zepf
Source :
The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol 957, Iss 2, p L17 (2023)
Publication Year :
2023
Publisher :
IOP Publishing, 2023.

Abstract

We use multiband archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST) observations to measure the photometric and structural parameters of the M81 globular cluster (GC) that hosts the fast radio burst FRB 20200120E. Our best-fitting King model has an effective radius r _h = 3.06 pc with a moderate King model concentration of c = 53, and an inferred core radius of 0.81 pc. We revisit the exact astrometric location of the FRB within the cluster, and find that FRB 20200120E is located 1.92 pc from the center, but within the projected half-light radius. We estimate the relative encounter rate of the FRB host, along with the corresponding rates of 210 other GCs in M81, and compare these values with the encounter rates of Galactic GCs. The FRB resides in a GC with an encounter rate that is moderately higher than the median stellar encounter rate in our two comparison samples. While the estimated encounter rate of the FRB host cluster (e.g., ∼50% of a cluster like 47 Tuc) is sufficient to allow the possibility that the FRB formed dynamically, our results do not place strong constraints on this scenario due to the limitations of the available HST data and the possible systematic uncertainties and selection effects in the comparison data.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20418213 and 20418205
Volume :
957
Issue :
2
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.3a8ac4c357f94f4096a79e64557f64b7
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad03e4