The physical properties of fast radio burst (FRB) host galaxies provide important clues towards the nature of FRB sources. The 16 FRB hosts identified thus far span three orders of magnitude in mass and specific star formation rate, implicating a ubiquitously occurring progenitor object. FRBs localized with ∼arcsecond accuracy also enable effective searches for associated multiwavelength and multi-time-scale counterparts, such as the persistent radio source associated with FRB 20121102A. Here we present a localization of the repeating source FRB 20201124A, and its association with a host galaxy (SDSS J050803.48+260338.0, z = 0.098) and persistent radio source. The galaxy is massive (${\sim}3\times 10^{10}\, \text{M}_{\odot }$), star-forming (few solar masses per year), and dusty. Very Large Array and Very Long Baseline Array observations of the persistent radio source measure a luminosity of 1.2 × 1029 erg s−1 Hz−1, and show that is extended on scales ≳50 mas. We associate this radio emission with the ongoing star formation activity in SDSS J050803.48+260338.0. Deeper, high-resolution optical observations are required to better utilize the milliarcsecond-scale localization of FRB 20201124A and determine the origin of the large dispersion measure (150–220 pc cm−3) contributed by the host. SDSS J050803.48+260338.0 is an order of magnitude more massive than any galaxy or stellar system previously associated with a repeating FRB source, butmore »
A fast radio burst localized to a massive galaxy
Intense, millisecond-duration bursts of radio waves (named fast radio bursts) have been detected from beyond the Milky Way. Their dispersion measures—which are greater than would be expected if they had propagated only through the interstellar medium of the Milky Way—indicate extragalactic origins, and imply contributions from the intergalactic medium and perhaps from other galaxies. Although several theories exist regarding the sources of these fast radio bursts, their intensities, durations and temporal structures suggest coherent emission from highly magnetized plasma. Two of these bursts have been observed to repeat, and one repeater (FRB 121102) has been localized to the largest star-forming region of a dwarf galaxy at a cosmological redshift of 0.19. However, the host galaxies and distances of the hitherto non-repeating fast radio bursts are yet to be identified. Unlike repeating sources, these events must be observed with an interferometer that has sufficient spatial resolution for arcsecond localization at the time of discovery. Here we report the localization of a fast radio burst (FRB 190523) to a few-arcsecond region containing a single massive galaxy at a redshift of 0.66. This galaxy is different from the host of FRB 121102, as it is a thousand times more massive, with a specific more »
- Award ID(s):
- 1836018
- Publication Date:
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10107541
- Journal Name:
- Nature
- ISSN:
- 0028-0836
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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ABSTRACT -
Abstract We present the localization and host galaxies of one repeating and two apparently nonrepeating fast radio bursts (FRBs). FRB 20180301A was detected and localized with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array to a star-forming galaxy at z = 0.3304. FRB20191228A and FRB20200906A were detected and localized by the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder to host galaxies at z = 0.2430 and z = 0.3688, respectively. We combine these with 13 other well-localized FRBs in the literature, and analyze the host galaxy properties. We find no significant differences in the host properties of repeating and apparently nonrepeating FRBs. FRB hosts are moderately star forming, with masses slightly offset from the star-forming main sequence. Star formation and low-ionization nuclear emission-line region emission are major sources of ionization in FRB host galaxies, with the former dominant in repeating FRB hosts. FRB hosts do not track stellar mass and star formation as seen in field galaxies (more than 95% confidence). FRBs are rare in massive red galaxies, suggesting that progenitor formation channels are not solely dominated by delayed channels which lag star formation by gigayears. The global properties of FRB hosts are indistinguishable from core-collapse supernovae and short gamma-ray bursts hosts, andmore »
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The dispersive sweep of fast radio bursts (FRBs) has been used to probe the ionized baryon content of the intergalactic medium, which is assumed to dominate the total extragalactic dispersion. While the host galaxy contributions to dispersion measure (DM) appear to be small for most FRBs, in at least one case there is evidence for an extreme magneto-ionic local environment and a compact persistent radio source. Here we report the detection and localization of the repeating FRB 20190520B, which is co-located with a compact, persistent radio source and associated with a dwarf host galaxy of high specific star formation rate at a redshift z=0.241±0.001. The estimated host galaxy DM~≈903+72−111~pc~cm−3, nearly an order of magnitude higher than the average of FRB host galaxies, far exceeds the DM contribution of the intergalactic medium. Caution is thus warranted in inferring redshifts for FRBs without accurate host galaxy identifications. The dense FRB environment and the association with a compact persistent radio source may point to a distinctive origin or an earlier evolutionary stage for this FRB source.
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We summarize our understanding of millisecond radio bursts from an extragalactic population of sources. Fast radio bursts (FRBs) occur at an extraordinary rate, thousands per day over the entire sky with radiation energy densities at the source about ten billion times larger than those from Galactic pulsars. We survey FRB phenomenology, source models and host galaxies, coherent radiation models, and the role of plasma propagation effects in burst detection. The FRB field is guaranteed to be exciting: New telescopes will expand the sample from the current ∼80 unique burst sources (and only a few secure localizations and redshifts) to thousands, with burst localizations that enable host-galaxy redshifts emerging directly from interferometric surveys. ▪ FRBs are now established as an extragalactic phenomenon. ▪ Only a few sources are known to repeat. Despite the failure to redetect other FRBs, they are not inconsistent with all being repeaters. ▪ FRB sources may be new, exotic kinds of objects or known types in extreme circumstances. Many inventive models exist, ranging from alien spacecraft to cosmic strings, but those concerning compact objects and supermassive black holes have gained the most attention. A rapidly rotating magnetar is a promising explanation for FRB 121102 along with themore »
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Abstract Radio wave scattering can cause severe reductions in detection sensitivity for surveys of Galactic and extragalactic fast (∼ms duration) transients. While Galactic sources like pulsars undergo scattering in the Milky Way interstellar medium (ISM), extragalactic fast radio bursts (FRBs) can also experience scattering in their host galaxies and other galaxies intervening in their lines of sight. We assess Galactic and extragalactic scattering horizons for fast radio transients using a combination of NE2001 to model the dispersion measure and scattering time (
τ ) contributed by the Galactic disk, and independently constructed electron density models for the Galactic halo and other galaxies’ ISMs and halos that account for different galaxy morphologies, masses, densities, and strengths of turbulence. For source redshifts 0.5 ≤z s≤ 1, an all-sky, isotropic FRB population has simulated values ofτ (1 GHz) ranging from ∼1μ s to ∼2 ms (90% confidence, observer frame) that are dominated by host galaxies, althoughτ can be ≫2 ms at low Galactic latitudes. A population atz s= 5 has 0.01 ≲τ ≲ 300 ms at 1 GHz (90% confidence), dominated by intervening galaxies. About 20% of these high-redshift FRBs are predicted to haveτ > 5 ms at 1 GHz (observer frame), and ≳40% of FRBs betweenz s∼ 0.5–5 haveτ ≳ 1 ms forν ≤more »
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Publisher's Version of Record
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1389-7
