LBA observations for project V609 semester 2021OCTS

ASKAP J052348-712552 is a highly-variable, circularly-polarized radio source discovered in the ASKAP Variables and Slow Transients Survey (VAST), located in the direction of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). No multi-wavelength counterparts were found from archival data including Gaia, VISTA, ROSAT, and Fermi. Pulsar searches with the Parkes telescope found no radio pulsations. Based on these properties, the source may be a (sub-)stellar object with an extreme infrared to radio emission ratio, a very unusual pulsar (possibly a magnetar), or one of a new class of pulsar-like radio sources that lack pulsations (similar to Hyman et al., 2021). However, all of these models imply different distances (and hence luminosities), and we need to understand whether the location in the direction of the LMC is a coincidence or related to the nature of the source. The aim of this proposal is to use the LBA to measure a proper motion constraint for ASKAP J052348-712552. We have a 8 hour LBA observation scheduled for 18 July 2021 as a DDT proposal. Having another LBA observation in the 2021OCT semester (with a ~ 6 month baseline) will allow us to constrain the proper motion to > 12 mas/yr and therefore the source type based on potential velocities for different models.