Parkes observations for project P892 semester 2015APRS_BPSR_13

SUPERBx is an extension to the SUPERB survey which looks at the highest Galactic latitudes in a search for fast radio bursts (FRBs). Recent results show that there is a strong latitude dependence to FRB detectability so SUPERBx will search above 25 degrees in Galactic latitude. It will use 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 will have much more associated information than all previous detections. Firstly the discovery lag will be ~1 second, rather than months/years. The Parkes observations will be shadowed by other radio telescopes (Molonglo, GMRT, MWA) to allow, for the first time, localisation of 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.

SUPERBx是SUPERB巡天的扩展项目，旨在对银道面高纬度区域开展观测以搜寻快速射电暴（fast radio bursts, FRBs）。近期研究结果显示，快速射电暴的可探测性存在显著的银纬依赖性，因此SUPERBx将聚焦银纬25度以上的天区执行搜寻任务。该项目将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的搜寻工作，实现实时发现。在平方千米阵列（Square Kilometre Array, SKA）第一阶段的观测范式下，实时处理随观测流涌入的数据是核心需求，因此本项目的技术方案可直接适配下一代望远镜的高数据率处理需求。本次项目发现的快速射电暴将拥有远超以往探测结果的关联信息：其一，其发现滞后时长将缩短至约1秒，而非此前的数月甚至数年；其二，帕克斯（Parkes）射电望远镜的观测将得到莫隆格洛（Molonglo）、巨米波射电望远镜（Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope, GMRT）与默奇森宽场阵列（Murchison Widefield Array, MWA）等其他射电望远镜的协同支援，首次实现快速射电暴的精确定位；随后将根据观测需求触发一系列光学与高能望远镜开展后续观测。这一能力对于确定快速射电暴的宿主星系、破解其起源之谜至关重要。