Parkes observations for project P879 semester 2014OCTS05

Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are millisecond bursts that are broadly evidenced to arise from extragalactic, but yet unknown, progenitors. They have presented a true mystery in that so far no progenitor theory can adequately account for their observed properties. We request observations that will glean basic information on FRB progenitors. Our observations will execute a specific test of whether FRBs originate in nearby galaxies. We have also designed our target field and time request to enable a thorough exploration of optical counterparts before, during, and after any detected FRB episode. Additionally, with a number depending on the typical distance to FRBs, our observations will raise the running list of total FRB discoveries by 10-60%.

快速射电暴（Fast Radio Bursts，FRBs）是一类毫秒级爆发事件，现已被广泛证实起源于河外星系，但其前身天体仍未明确。该现象至今仍是天文领域的未解之谜：目前尚无任何前身天体理论能够合理解释其观测到的物理特性。我们申请开展相关观测以获取快速射电暴前身天体的基础信息，本次观测将专门验证快速射电暴是否起源于近邻星系。我们还精心设计了观测天区与观测时间申请方案，以便在任意已探测到的快速射电暴爆发事件的前、中、后三个阶段对其光学对应体开展全面探测。此外，基于快速射电暴的典型距离尺度，本次观测将使已发现的快速射电暴总数量提升10%至60%。