GBT23B-179

Radio, Optical, and X-ray Monitoring of Closest Repeating FRB

Abstract

This proposal aims to address fundamental questions regarding the origins of fast radio bursts (FRBs) by carrying out simultaneous observations of the closest extragalactic FRB with the GBT, the NICER X-ray instrument on-board the ISS, and a brand new and unique hybrid instrument in the Deep Space Network (DSN) that is enabling simultaneous observations at both radio and optical wavelengths. FRBs are bright millisecond duration radio pulses of unknown origin. Since their discovery in 2007, FRBs have been shown to have extragalactic hosts and enormous energy outputs, typically 10**39 erg in the radio band alone. Compared to other radio transients, FRBs occupy a unique and also extreme part of the radio luminosity versus time scale phase space, spanning 7 orders of magnitude, thereby generating intense interest in both the astrophysics community as well as in the general public community. To date, no definitive detection of an extragalactic FRB has been made outside the radio band. The detection of a single X-ray or optical burst coincident with an FRB event, will constitute a significant discovery in the field, providing important insight into the emission mechanism and progenitors of this mysterious phenomenon.

Investigators

Name	Institution
Robert Wharton *	Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Walid Majid	Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Robert Preston	Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Thomas Prince	California Institute of Technology

* indicates the PI