Showing papers by "Jean-Pierre Macquart published in 2017"

The Detection of an Extremely Bright Fast Radio Burst in a Phased Array Feed Survey

Abstract: We report the detection of an ultra-bright fast radio burst (FRB) from a modest, 34-day pilot survey with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder The survey was conducted in a wide-field fly's-eye configuration using the phased-array-feed technology deployed on the array to instantaneously observe an effective area of 160 deg^2, and achieve an exposure totaling 13200 deg^2 hr We constrain the position of FRB 170107 to a region 8^'x 8^' in size (90% containment) and its fluence to be 58 ± 6 Jy ms The spectrum of the burst shows a sharp cutoff above 1400 MHz, which could be due to either scintillation or an intrinsic feature of the burst This confirms the existence of an ultra-bright (> 20 Jy ms) population of FRBs

A polarized fast radio burst at low Galactic latitude

Abstract: We report on the discovery of a new fast radio burst (FRB), FRB 150215, with the Parkes radio telescope on 2015 February 15. The burst was detected in real time with a dispersion measure (DM) of 1105.6 +/‐ 0.8 pc cm(‐3), a pulse duration of 2.8(‐0.5)(+1.2) ms, and a measured peak flux density assuming that the burst was at beam centre of 0.7(‐0.1)(+0.2) Jy. The FRB originated at a Galactic longitude and latitude of 24.66 degrees, 5.28 degrees and 25 degrees away from the Galactic Center. The burst was found to be 43 +/‐ 5 per cent linearly polarized with a rotation measure (RM) in the range ‐9 < RM < 12 rad m(‐2) (95 per cent confidence level), consistent with zero. The burst was followed up with 11 telescopes to search for radio, optical, X‐ray, gamma‐ray and neutrino emission. Neither transient nor variable emission was found to be associated with the burst and no repeat pulses have been observed in 17.25 h of observing. The sightline to the burst is close to the Galactic plane and the observed physical properties of FRB 150215 demonstrate the existence of sight lines of anomalously low RM for a given electron column density. The Galactic RM foreground may approach a null value due to magnetic field reversals along the line of sight, a decreased total electron column density from the Milky Way, or some combination of these effects. A lower Galactic DM contribution might explain why this burst was detectable whereas previous searches at low latitude have had lower detection rates than those out of the plane.

The detection of an extremely bright fast radio burst in a phased array feed survey

Abstract: We report the detection of an ultra-bright fast radio burst (FRB) from a modest, 3.4-day pilot survey with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder. The survey was conducted in a wide-field fly's-eye configuration using the phased-array-feed technology deployed on the array to instantaneously observe an effective area of $160$ deg$^2$, and achieve an exposure totaling $13200$ deg$^2$ hr. We constrain the position of FRB 170107 to a region $8'\times8'$ in size (90% containment) and its fluence to be $58\pm6$ Jy ms. The spectrum of the burst shows a sharp cutoff above $1400$ MHz, which could be either due to scintillation or an intrinsic feature of the burst. This confirms the existence of an ultra-bright ($>20$ Jy ms) population of FRBs.

Illuminating the past 8 billion years of cold gas towards two gravitationally lensed quasars

Abstract: Using the Boolardy Engineering Test Array of the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP BETA), we have carried out the first z = 0–1 survey for H I and OH absorption towards the gravitationally lensed quasars PKS B1830−211 and MG J0414+0534. Although we detected all previously reported intervening systems towards PKS B1830−211, in the case of MG J0414+0534, three systems were not found, indicating that the original identifications may have been confused with radio frequency interference. Given the sensitivity of our data, we find that our detection yield is consistent with the expected frequency of intervening H I systems estimated from previous surveys for 21-cm emission in nearby galaxies and z ∼ 3 damped Lyman α absorbers. We find spectral variability in the z = 0.886 face-on spiral galaxy towards PKS B1830−211 from observations undertaken with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope in 1997/1998 and ASKAP BETA in 2014/2015. The H I equivalent width varies by a few per cent over approximately yearly time-scales. This long-term spectral variability is correlated between the north-east and south-west images of the core, and with the total flux density of the source, implying that it is observationally coupled to intrinsic changes in the quasar. The absence of any detectable variability in the ratio of H I associated with the two core images is in stark contrast to the behaviour previously seen in the molecular lines. We therefore infer that coherent opaque H I structures in this galaxy are larger than the parsec-scale molecular clouds found at mm-wavelengths.

Radio light curve of the galaxy possibly associated with FRB 150418

Abstract: We present observations made with the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA), the Jansky Very Large Array (JVLA) and the Giant Metre-Wave Telescope of the radio source within the galaxy WISE~J07163459-1900392, claimed to be host of FRB~150418 by Keane et al (2016) We have established a common flux density scale between the ATCA and JVLA observations, the main result of which is to increase the flux densities obtained by Keane et al At a frequency of 55 GHz, the source has a mean flux density of 140uJy and is variable on short timescales with a modulation index of 036 Statistical analysis of the flux densities shows that the variations seen are consistent with refractive interstellar scintillation of the weak active galactic nucleus at the centre of the galaxy It may therefore be the case that the FRB and the galaxy are not associated However, taking into account the rarity of highly variable sources in the radio sky, and our lack of knowledge of the progenitors of FRBs as a class, the association between WISE~J07163459-1900392 and FRB~150418 remains a possibility

Towards a three-dimensional distribution of the molecular clouds in the Galactic Centre

Abstract: We present a study of the three-dimensional structure of the molecular clouds in the Galactic Centre (GC) using CO emission and OH absorption lines. Two CO isotopologue lines, $^{12}$CO ($J$=1$\rightarrow$0) and $^{13}$CO ($J$=1$\rightarrow$0), and four OH ground-state transitions, surveyed by the Southern Parkes Large-Area Survey in Hydroxyl (SPLASH), contribute to this study. We develop a novel method to calculate the OH column density, excitation temperature, and optical depth precisely using all four OH lines, and we employ it to derive a three-dimensional model for the distribution of molecular clouds in the GC for six slices in Galactic latitude. The angular resolution of the data is 15.5 arcmin, which at the distance of the GC (8.34 kpc) is equivalent to 38 pc. We find that the total mass of OH in the GC is in the range 2400-5100 Solar mass . The face-on view at a Galactic latitude of b = 0{\deg} displays a bar-like structure with an inclination angle of 67.5 $\pm$ 2.1{\deg} with respect to the line of sight. No ring-like structure in the GC is evident in our data, likely due to the low spatial resolution of the CO and OH maps.

A Dense Plasma Globule in the Solar Neighborhood

Abstract: The radio source J1819+3845 underwent a period of extreme interstellar scintillation between circa 1999 and 2007. The plasma structure responsible for this scintillation was determined to be just 1–3 pc from the solar system and to posses a density of n_e ~ 10^2 cm^(−3), which is three orders of magnitude higher than the ambient interstellar density. Here we present radio-polarimetric images of the field toward J1819+3845 at wavelengths of 0.2, 0.92, and 2 m. We detect an elliptical plasma globule of approximate size 1° x ≳2° (major-axis position angle of ≈-40°), via its Faraday-rotation imprint (≈15 rad m^(-2)) on the diffuse Galactic synchrotron emission. The extreme scintillation of J1819+3845 was most likely caused at the turbulent boundary of the globule (J1819+3845 is currently occulted by the globule). The origin and precise nature of the globule remain unknown. Our observations represent the first time that plasma structures which likely cause extreme scintillation have been directly imaged.

A dense plasma globule in the solar neighborhood

Abstract: The radio source J1819+3845 underwent a period of extreme interstellar scintillation between circa 1999 and 2007. The plasma structure responsible for this scintillation was determined to be just $1$-$3\,$pc from the solar system and to posses a density of $n_e\sim 10^2\,$cm$^{-3}$ that is three orders of magnitude higher than the ambient interstellar density (de Bruyn & Macquart 2015). Here we present radio-polarimetric images of the field towards J1819+3845 at wavelengths of 0.2, 0.92 and 2$\,$m. We detect an elliptical plasma globule of approximate size $1^\circ \times \gtrsim 2^\circ$ (major-axis position angle of $\approx -40^\circ$), via its Faraday-rotation imprint ($\approx 15\,$rad$\,$m$^{-2}$) on the diffuse Galactic synchrotron emission. The extreme scintillation of J1819+3845 was most likely caused at the turbulent boundary of the globule (J1819+3845 is currently occulted by the globule). The origin and precise nature of the globule remain unknown. Our observations are the first time plasma structures that likely cause extreme scintillation have been directly imaged.