Parkes observations for project P892 semester 2016OCTS_BPSR_38

SUPERBx is an extension to the SUPERB survey which looks at the highest Galactic latitudes in a search for fast radio bursts (FRBs). Our most recent results show that there is a strong Galactic latitude dependence to FRB detectability with the detection rate being 4 times higher ~45 degrees and higher above the plane; this is where SUPERBx will focus its efforts from now on. SUPERBx uses optimised GPU codes to search for pulsars and fast radio bursts (FRBs), making discoveries in real time. Handling our data as it comes in is essential for the SKA Phase I era so this work applies directly to the high-data rates of next generation telescopes. The FRBs discovered (we have already discovered four FRBs in this project) will have much more associated information than all previous detections. Firstly our discovery lag is ~1 second, rather than months/years. The Parkes observations will be shadowed by other radio telescopes (in particular the refurbished Molonglo which has now reached a level of performance where it has independently discovered 3 FRBs in 2016) to allow localisation of the discovered FRBs, and a host of optical and high-energy telescopes will then be triggered as appropriate. This is key for identifying FRB host galaxies, so as to solve the mystery of their progenitors and to exploit their many uses as tools for precision cosmology measurements.SUPERBx是SUPERB巡天的扩展项目，旨在以最高银纬天区搜寻快速射电暴（fast radio bursts, FRBs）。我们的最新研究结果表明，快速射电暴的可探测性与银纬存在显著相关性：在银道面上方约45度及更高纬度区域，探测率提升至原先的4倍，这也将是SUPERBx未来的核心观测重点。SUPERBx采用优化后的图形处理器（Graphics Processing Unit, GPU）代码开展脉冲星与快速射电暴搜寻工作，可实现实时探测发现。鉴于平方千米阵（Square Kilometre Array, SKA）第一阶段的观测时代对实时接收并处理数据有着极高要求，本项目的技术方案可直接适配下一代射电望远镜的高数据率处理需求。本项目已发现4例快速射电暴，这些事件将附带远多于此前所有探测案例的关联信息：其一，本项目的发现延迟仅约1秒，而非以往的数月乃至数年。帕克斯（Parkes）望远镜的观测将与其他射电望远镜形成互补，以实现对已探测快速射电暴的精确定位——其中经过翻新的莫朗格洛（Molonglo）望远镜目前已达到可独立完成探测的性能水平，并于2016年独立发现了3例快速射电暴；随后将根据观测需求触发一系列光学及高能望远镜开展后续跟进观测。这一流程对于识别快速射电暴的宿主星系、破解其起源之谜，以及将其作为精密宇宙学测量工具开展相关研究均具有关键意义。