skip to main content


Title: A Fast Radio Burst Progenitor Born in a Galaxy Merger
Abstract

We report a Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope21 cm mapping study of the neutral atomic hydrogen (Hi) in the host galaxy of the fast radio burst (FRB) FRB 20180916B atz≈ 0.03399. We find that the FRB host has an Himass ofMHi= (2.74 ± 0.33) × 109Mand a high Hito stellar mass ratio, ≈1.3. The FRB host is thus a gas-rich but near-quiescent galaxy that is likely to have acquired a significant mass of Hiin the recent past. The Hidistribution is disturbed, with extended Hi21 cm emission detected in a northeastern tail, a counter-tail toward the south, an Hihole between the galaxy center and the FRB location, and a high Hicolumn density measured close to the FRB position. The FRB host is part of a group with four companions detected in their Hi21 cm emission, the nearest of which is only 22 kpc from the FRB location. The gas richness and disturbed Hidistribution indicate that the FRB host has recently undergone a minor merger, which increased its Himass, disturbed the Hiin the galaxy disk, and compressed the Hinear the FRB location to increase its surface density. We propose that this merger caused the burst of star formation in the outskirts of the galaxy that gave rise to the FRB progenitor. The evidence for a minor merger is consistent with scenarios in which the FRB progenitor is a massive star, formed due to the merger event.

 
more » « less
Award ID(s):
1911140 1910471
NSF-PAR ID:
10362280
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Publisher / Repository:
DOI PREFIX: 10.3847
Date Published:
Journal Name:
The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Volume:
925
Issue:
2
ISSN:
2041-8205
Format(s):
Medium: X Size: Article No. L20
Size(s):
["Article No. L20"]
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Abstract We present a high-resolution analysis of the host galaxy of fast radio burst (FRB) 190608, an SB(r)c galaxy at z = 0.11778 (hereafter HG 190608), to dissect its local environment and its contributions to the FRB properties. Our Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 ultraviolet and visible light image reveals that the subarcsecond localization of FRB 190608 is coincident with a knot of star formation (Σ SFR = 1.5 × 10 −2 M ⊙ yr −1 kpc −2 ) in the northwest spiral arm of HG 190608. Using H β emission present in our Keck Cosmic Web Imager integral field spectrum of the galaxy with a surface brightness of μ H β = ( 3.36 ± 0.21 ) × 10 − 17 erg s − 1 cm − 2 arcsec − 2 , we infer an extinction-corrected H α surface brightness and compute a dispersion measure (DM) from the interstellar medium of HG 190608 of DM Host,ISM = 94 ± 38 pc cm −3 . The galaxy rotates with a circular velocity v circ = 141 ± 8 km s −1 at an inclination i gas = 37° ± 3°, giving a dynamical mass M halo dyn ≈ 10 11.96 ± 0.08 M ⊙ . This implies a halo contribution to the DM of DM Host,Halo = 55 ± 25 pc cm −3 subject to assumptions on the density profile and fraction of baryons retained. From the galaxy rotation curve, we infer a bar-induced pattern speed of Ω p = 34 ± 6 km s −1 kpc −1 using linear resonance theory. We then calculate the maximum time since star formation for a progenitor using the furthest distance to the arm’s leading edge within the localization, and find t enc = 21 − 6 + 25 Myr. Unlike previous high-resolution studies of FRB environments, we find no evidence of disturbed morphology, emission, or kinematics for FRB 190608. 
    more » « less
  2. Abstract

    We report on the commensal ASKAP detection of a fast radio burst (FRB), FRB 20211127I, and the detection of neutral hydrogen (Hi) emission in the FRB host galaxy, WALLABY J131913–185018 (hereafter W13–18). This collaboration between the CRAFT and WALLABY survey teams marks the fifth, and most distant, FRB host galaxy detected in Hi, not including the Milky Way. We find that W13–18 has an Himass ofMHI= 6.5 × 109M, an Hi-to-stellar mass ratio of 2.17, and coincides with a continuum radio source of flux density at 1.4 GHz of 1.3 mJy. The Higlobal spectrum of W13–18 appears to be asymmetric, albeit the Hiobservation has a low signal-to-noise ratio (S/N), and the galaxy itself appears modestly undisturbed. These properties are compared to the early literature of Hiemission detected in other FRB hosts to date, where either the Higlobal spectra were strongly asymmetric, or there were clearly disrupted Hiintensity map distributions. W13–18 lacks a sufficient S/N to determine whether it is significantly less asymmetric in its Hidistribution than previous examples of FRB host galaxies. However, there are no strong signs of a major interaction in the optical image of the host galaxy that would stimulate a burst of star formation and hence the production of putative FRB progenitors related to massive stars and their compact remnants.

     
    more » « less
  3. Abstract

    We present the discovery of neutral gas detected in both damped Lyαabsorption (DLA) and Hi21 cm emission outside of the stellar body of a galaxy, the first such detection in the literature. A joint analysis between the Cosmic Ultraviolet Baryon Survey and the MeerKAT Absorption Line Survey reveals an Hibridge connecting two interacting dwarf galaxies (log (Mstar/M) = 8.5 ± 0.2) that host az= 0.026 DLA with log[N(Hi)/cm−2] = 20.60 ± 0.05 toward the QSO J2339−5523 (zQSO= 1.35). At impact parameters ofd= 6 and 33 kpc, the dwarf galaxies have no companions more luminous than ≈0.05L*within at least Δv= ±300 km s−1andd≈ 350 kpc. The Hi21 cm emission is spatially coincident with the DLA at the 2σ–3σlevel per spectral channel over several adjacent beams. However, Hi21 cm absorption is not detected against the radio-bright QSO; if the background UV and radio sources are spatially aligned, the gas is either warm or clumpy (with a spin temperature to covering factor ratioTs/fc> 1880 K). Observations with VLT-MUSE demonstrate that theα-element abundance of the ionized interstellar medium (ISM) is consistent with the DLA (≈10% solar), suggesting that the neutral gas envelope is perturbed ISM gas. This study showcases the impact of dwarf–dwarf interactions on the physical and chemical state of neutral gas outside of star-forming regions. In the SKA era, joint UV and Hi21 cm analyses will be critical for connecting the cosmic neutral gas content to galaxy environments.

     
    more » « less
  4. Abstract

    The repeating fast radio burst FRB 20190520B is localized to a galaxy atz= 0.241, much closer than expected given its dispersion measure DM = 1205 ± 4 pc cm−3. Here we assess implications of the large DM and scattering observed from FRB 20190520B for the host galaxy’s plasma properties. A sample of 75 bursts detected with the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope shows scattering on two scales: a mean temporal delayτ(1.41 GHz) = 10.9 ± 1.5 ms, which is attributed to the host galaxy, and a mean scintillation bandwidth Δνd(1.41 GHz) = 0.21 ± 0.01 MHz, which is attributed to the Milky Way. Balmer line measurements for the host imply an Hαemission measure (galaxy frame) EMs= 620 pc cm−6× (T/104K)0.9, implying DMHαof order the value inferred from the FRB DM budget,DMh=1121138+89pc cm−3for plasma temperatures greater than the typical value 104K. Combiningτand DMhyields a nominal constraint on the scattering amplification from the host galaxyF˜G=1.50.3+0.8(pc2km)1/3, whereF˜describes turbulent density fluctuations andGrepresents the geometric leverage to scattering that depends on the location of the scattering material. For a two-screen scattering geometry whereτarises from the host galaxy and Δνdfrom the Milky Way, the implied distance between the FRB source and dominant scattering material is ≲100 pc. The host galaxy scattering and DM contributions support a novel technique for estimating FRB redshifts using theτ–DM relation, and are consistent with previous findings that scattering of localized FRBs is largely dominated by plasma within host galaxies and the Milky Way.

     
    more » « less
  5. Abstract

    We present high-resolution 1.5–6 GHz Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array and Hubble Space Telescope (HST) optical and infrared observations of the extremely active repeating fast radio burst (FRB) FRB 20201124A and its barred spiral host galaxy. We constrain the location and morphology of star formation in the host and search for a persistent radio source (PRS) coincident with FRB 20201124A. We resolve the morphology of the radio emission across all frequency bands and measure a star formation rate (SFR) ≈ 8.9Myr−1, approximately ≈2.5–6 times larger than optically inferred SFRs, demonstrating dust-obscured star formation throughout the host. Compared to a sample of all known FRB hosts with radio emission, the host of FRB 20201124A has the most significantly obscured star formation. While HST observations show the FRB to be offset from the bar or spiral arms, the radio emission extends to the FRB location. We propose that the FRB progenitor could have formed in situ (e.g., a magnetar born from a massive star explosion). It is still plausible, although less likely, that the progenitor of FRB 20201124A migrated from the central bar of the host. We further place a limit on the luminosity of a putative PRS at the FRB position ofL6.0GHz≲ 1.8 ×1027erg s−1Hz−1, among the deepest PRS luminosity limits to date. However, this limit is still broadly consistent with both magnetar nebulae and hypernebulae models assuming a constant energy injection rate of the magnetar and an age of ≳105yr in each model, respectively.

     
    more » « less