Parkes observations for project P892 semester 2015APRS_BPSR_08

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，旨在搜寻银纬极高天区的快速射电暴（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将针对银纬25度以上的天区开展搜寻工作。本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，实现实时探测与发现。在平方公里阵列（Square Kilometre Array, SKA）第一阶段的观测时代，实时流式数据处理是核心需求，因此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。本次探测到的快速射电暴将拥有远多于此前所有探测案例的关联信息：其一，探测延迟将缩短至约1秒，而非此前的数月乃至数年；其二，帕克斯（Parkes）望远镜的观测将得到莫隆洛射电望远镜（Molonglo）、巨型米波射电望远镜（Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope, GMRT）以及默奇森宽场阵列（Murchison Widefield Array, MWA）的协同补盲，从而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多台光学及高能望远镜开展后续跟进观测。这一能力对于确定快速射电暴的宿主星系至关重要，进而破解其起源之谜。