Discovery of Two Nearby Fast Radio Bursts by CHIME/FRB

Abstract

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are one of the most intriguing unsolved mysteries in astronomy. Although several hundred FRBs have been discovered to date, the origins of these powerful millisecond duration radio pulses are still a conundrum. One promising way to uncover the true nature of FRBs is by identifying their host galaxies, studying their local environments, and comparing them with those of the proposed progenitors. In my talk, I will report on the host association of the two nearby repeating FRB sources, 20181030Aand 20200120E with dispersion measures 103.3 pc cm-3 and 87.8 pc cm-3, respectively, discovered with the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) telescope. We have identified the most plausible hosts of 20181030A and 20200120E as NGC 3252 (20 Mpc away) and NGC 3031 (also known as M81; 3.6 Mpc), respectively. Due to their proximity, these are very promising FRB sources to constrain their engines through multi-wavelength follow-up studies. I will discuss the properties of the host galaxies and how these localizations can help in solving the mystery of FRBs.

Mohit Bhardwaj

McWilliams Fellow

My research interests include multi-messanger astronomy, RF electronics and communication and applied statistics.