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We present a study of the linear polarization properties of radio sources within the 10 deg2. Wide Chandra Deep Field South (W-CDFS) in S-band (2–4 GHz). Our W-CDFS image has an angular resolution of 15 arcsec and a 1σ RMS in Stokes I of ≈50 μJy/beam. We detect 1920 distinct source components in Stokes I and 175 in linear polarization. We examine the polarized source counts, Faraday Rotation measures, and fractional polarization of the sources in the survey. We show that sources with a total intensity above ≈10 mJy have a mean fractional polarization value of ≈3% from modeling the polarized counts. We also calculate an estimate for the limit on the fractional polarization level of sources with a total intensity below 1 mJy (mostly star-forming galaxies) of ≲3% using stacking. The mean Faraday Rotation we measure is consistent with that due to the Milky Way. We also show that fractional polarization is correlated with in-band spectral index, consistent with a lower mean fractional polarization for the flat-spectrum population. In addition to characterizing the S-band polarization properties of sources in the W-CDFS, this study will be used to validate the shallower, but higher angular resolution S-band polarimetric information that the VLA Sky Survey will provide for the whole sky above Declination −40 degrees over the next few years. 

Abstract We report the discovery of CHIME J1634+44, a long-period radio transient (LPT) unique for two aspects: it is the first known LPT to emit fully circularly polarized radio bursts, and it is the first LPT with a significant spin-up. Given that high circular polarization (>90%) has been observed in FRB 20201124A and in some giant pulses of PSR B1937+21, we discuss the implications of the high circular polarization of CHIME J1634+44 and conclude its emission mechanism is likely to be “pulsar-like.” While CHIME J1634+44 has a pulse period of 841 s, its burst arrival patterns are indicative of a secondary 4206 s period, probably associated with binary activity. The timing properties suggest it has a significantly negative period derivative of $\dot{P}=-9.03\left(0.11\right)\times {10}^{-12}$ s s⁻¹. Few systems have been known to spin up, most notably transitional millisecond pulsars and cataclysmic binaries, both of which seem unlikely progenitors for CHIME J1634+44. If the period was only associated with the spin of the object, then the spin-up is likely generated by accretion of material from a companion. If, however, the radio pulse period and the orbital period are locked, as appears to be the case for two other LPTs, the spin-up of CHIME J1634+44 could be driven by gravitational-wave radiation. 

Abstract We present a systematic search for tidal disruption events (TDEs) using radio data from the Variables and Slow Transients (VAST) Pilot Survey conducted using the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder. Historically, TDEs have been identified using observations at X-ray, optical, and ultraviolet wavelengths. After discovery, a few dozen TDEs have been shown to have radio counterparts through follow-up observations. With systematic time-domain radio surveys becoming available, we can now identify new TDEs in the radio regime. A population of radio-discovered TDEs has the potential to provide several key insights including an independent constraint on their volumetric rate. We conducted a search to select variable radio sources with a single prominent radio flare and a position consistent within 2σof the nucleus of a known galaxy. While TDEs were the primary target of our search, sources identified in this search may also be consistent with active galactic nuclei exhibiting unusual flux density changes at the timescales probed, uncharacteristically bright supernovae, or a population of gamma-ray bursts. We identify a sample of 12 radio-bright candidate TDEs. The timescales and luminosities range from ∼6 to 230 days and ∼10³⁸to 10⁴¹erg s⁻¹, respectively, consistent with models of radio emission from TDEs that launch relativistic jets. After calculating the detection efficiency of our search using a Monte Carlo simulation of TDEs, and assuming all 12 sources are jetted TDEs, we derive a volumetric rate for jetted TDEs of ${0.80}_{-0.23}^{+0.31}$ Gpc⁻³yr⁻¹, consistent with previous empirically estimated rates. 

Abstract We analyze the positional and morphological properties of about 3600 unique fast radio burst (FRB) sources reported in the second FRB catalog generated by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) telescope. We find a two-dimensional dependence of FRB detections on sky position and identify a significant absence of detections in a roughly circular region centered at Galactic coordinates (77 $\stackrel{\text{°}}{.}$ 7, 0 $\stackrel{\text{°}}{.}$ 9), spanning an area of 213.6 deg². This detection gap spatially coincides with the Cygnus X region—a plasma-rich star-forming region in the Milky Way. This feature is most likely the result of increased sky temperature and strong multipath scattering by turbulent ionized plasma, which broadens the FRB signals beyond detectability in the CHIME band. Our simulations yield a mean of six expected FRB detections within the gap when accounting for the elevated sky temperature in the direction of the detection gap. We infer that a lower limit of the maximum scattering timescaleτ_{sc, 1 GHz}≥ 5.59 ms, obtained without assuming a model of the Galactic electron distribution, is sufficient to suppress the brightness of all coincident FRBs. A similar suppression is seen in Catalog 2 along other high emission measure (EM) sight lines (i.e., EM ≥ 2900 pc cm⁻⁶), further supporting a broader trend of suppression due to Galactic scattering. Future very long baseline interferometry measurements of scattering disks with CHIME Outriggers can help confirm our interpretation. Our work highlights the notion that FRBs can serve as new, model-independent tracers of the warm ionized medium within our Galaxy. 

Abstract We report the discovery of a young, highly scattered pulsar in a search for highly circularly polarized radio sources as part of the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder Variables and Slow Transients survey. In follow-up observations with the Parkes radio telescope, Murriyang, we identified PSR J1032−5804 and measured a period of 78.7 ms, a dispersion measure of 819 ± 4 pc cm⁻³, a rotation measure of −2000 ± 1 rad m⁻², and a characteristic age of 34.6 kyr. We found a pulse scattering timescale at 3 GHz of ∼22 ms, implying a timescale at 1 GHz of ∼3845 ms, which is the third most scattered pulsar known and explains its nondetection in previous pulsar surveys. We discuss the identification of a possible pulsar wind nebula and supernova remnant in the pulsar’s local environment by analyzing the pulsar spectral energy distribution and the surrounding extended emission from multiwavelength images. Our result highlights the possibility of identifying extremely scattered pulsars from radio continuum images. Ongoing and future large-scale radio continuum surveys will offer us an unprecedented opportunity to find more extreme pulsars (e.g., highly scattered, highly intermittent, and highly accelerated), which will enhance our understanding of the characteristics of pulsars and the interstellar medium. 

Abstract We present a systematic search for past supernovae (SNe) and other historical optical transients at the positions of fast radio burst (FRB) sources to test FRB progenitor systems. Our sample comprises 83 FRBs detected by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) and its k’niʔatn k’l_⌣stk’masqt Outrigger, along with 93 literature FRBs representing all known well-localized FRBs. We search for optical transients coincident in position and redshift with FRBs and find no significant associations within the 5σFRB localization uncertainties except for a previously identified potential optical counterpart to FRB 20180916B. By constraining the timescale for SN ejecta to become transparent to FRB emission, we predict that it takes at least 6–10 yr before the FRB emission can escape. From this, we infer that ≈7% of matched optical transients, up to 30% of currently known SNe, and up to 40% of core-collapse SNe could have an observable FRB based on timescales alone. We derive the number of new, well-localized FRBs required to produce one FRB-SN match by chance, and find it will take ∼22,700 FRBs to yield one chance association at the projected CHIME/FRB Outrigger detection rate. Looking forward, we demonstrate redshift overlap between SNe detected by the upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory and CHIME/FRB Outrigger FRBs, indicating the prospect of an increase in potential associations at redshiftz < 1. Our framework is publicly available, flexible to a wide range of transient timescales and FRB localization sizes, and can be applied to any optical transient populations in future searches. 

Abstract Late-time (∼a year) radio follow-up of optically discovered tidal disruption events (TDEs) is increasingly resulting in detections at radio wavelengths, and there is growing evidence for this late-time radio activity to be common to the broad class of subrelativistic TDEs. Detailed studies of some of these TDEs at radio wavelengths are also challenging the existing models for radio emission. Using all-sky multiepoch data from the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), taken as a part of the Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS), we searched for radio counterparts to a sample of optically discovered TDEs. We detected late-time emission at RACS frequencies (742–1032 MHz) in five TDEs, reporting the independent discovery of radio emission from TDE AT 2019ahk and extending the time baseline out to almost 3000 days for some events. Overall, we find that at least ${22}_{-11}^{+15}\%$ of the population of optically discovered TDEs has detectable radio emission in the RACS survey, while also noting that the true fraction can be higher given the limited cadence (two epochs separated by ∼3 yr) of the survey. Finally, we project that the ongoing higher-cadence (∼2 months) ASKAP Variable and Slow Transients survey can detect ∼20 TDEs in its operational span (4 yr), given the current rate from optical surveys. 

Abstract We present the host galaxies of four apparently nonrepeating fast radio bursts (FRBs), FRB 20181223C, FRB 20190418A, FRB 20191220A, and FRB 20190425A, reported in the first Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME/FRB) catalog. Our selection of these FRBs is based on a planned hypothesis testing framework where we search all CHIME/FRB Catalog-1 events that have low extragalactic dispersion measure (<100 pc cm⁻³), with high Galactic latitude (∣b∣ > 10°) and saved baseband data. We associate the selected FRBs with galaxies with moderate to high star formation rates located at redshifts between 0.027 and 0.071. We also search for possible multimessenger counterparts, including persistent compact radio and gravitational-wave sources, and find none. Utilizing the four FRB hosts from this study, along with the hosts of 14 published local Universe FRBs (z< 0.1) with robust host association, we conduct an FRB host demographics analysis. We find all 18 local Universe FRB hosts in our sample to be spirals (or late-type galaxies), including the host of FRB 20220509G, which was previously reported to be elliptical. Using this observation, we scrutinize proposed FRB source formation channels and argue that core-collapse supernovae are likely the dominant channel to form FRB sources. Moreover, we infer no significant difference in the host properties of repeating and apparently nonrepeating FRBs in our local Universe FRB host sample. Finally, we find the burst rates of these four apparently nonrepeating FRBs to be consistent with those of the sample of localized repeating FRBs observed by CHIME/FRB. Therefore, we encourage further monitoring of these FRBs with more sensitive radio telescopes. 

Abstract We present the first catalog of fast radio burst (FRB) host galaxies from CHIME/FRB Outriggers, selected uniformly in the radio and the optical by localizing 81 new bursts to 2″ × ∼ 60″ accuracy using CHIME and the k’niʔatn k’l ⌣ stk’masqt Outrigger station, located 66 km from CHIME. Of the 81 localized bursts, we use the probabilistic association of transients to their hosts algorithm to securely identify 21 new FRB host galaxies, and compile spectroscopic redshifts for 19 systems, 15 of which are newly obtained via spectroscopic observations. The most nearby source is FRB 20231229A, at a distance of 90 Mpc. One burst in our sample is from a previously reported repeating source in a galaxy merger (FRB 20190303A). Three new FRB host galaxies (FRBs 20230203A, 20230703A, and 20231206A) are found toward X-ray and optically selected galaxy clusters, potentially doubling the sample of known galaxy cluster FRBs. A search for radio counterparts reveals that FRB 20231128A is associated with a luminous persistent radio source (PRS) candidate with high significance (P_cc ∼ 10⁻²). If its compactness is confirmed, it would be the nearest known compact PRS atz= 0.1079. Our catalog significantly increases the statistics of the Macquart relation at low redshifts (z < 0.2). In the near future, the completed CHIME/FRB Outriggers array will produce hundreds of FRBs localized with very long baseline interferometry (VLBI). This will significantly expand the known sample and pave the way for future telescopes relying on VLBI for FRB localization. 

Abstract The discovery and localization of FRB 20240209A by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Fast Radio Burst (CHIME/FRB) experiment marks the first repeating FRB localized with the CHIME/FRB Outriggers and adds to the small sample of repeating FRBs with associated host galaxies. Here we present Keck and Gemini observations of the host that reveal a redshiftz = 0.1384 ± 0.0004. We perform stellar population modeling to jointly fit the optical through mid-IR data of the host and infer a median stellar mass log(M_*/M_⊙) = 11.35 ± 0.01 and a mass-weighted stellar population age  ~11 Gyr, corresponding to the most massive and oldest FRB host discovered to date. Coupled with a star formation rate  <0.31M_⊙yr⁻¹, the specific star formation rate  <10^−11.9yr⁻¹classifies the host as quiescent. Through surface brightness profile modeling, we determine an elliptical galaxy morphology, marking the host as the first confirmed elliptical FRB host. The discovery of a quiescent early-type host galaxy within a transient class predominantly characterized by late-type star-forming hosts is reminiscent of short-duration gamma-ray bursts, Type Ia supernovae, and ultraluminous X-ray sources. Based on these shared host demographics, coupled with a large offset as demonstrated in our companion Letter, we conclude that preferred sources for FRB 20240209A include magnetars formed through merging binary neutron stars/white dwarfs or the accretion-induced collapse of a white dwarf, or a luminous X-ray binary. Together with FRB 20200120E localized to a globular cluster in M81, our findings provide strong evidence that some fraction of FRBs may arise from a process distinct from the core collapse of massive stars.