Parkes observations for project P892 semester 2016OCTS_BPSR_33

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，其观测目标为银纬极高的天区，用于搜寻快速射电暴（fast radio bursts, FRBs）。我们的最新研究结果显示，快速射电暴的可探测性与银纬存在显著相关性：在银纬约45度及以上的天区，探测率高出基准值4倍，这也将成为SUPERBx未来的核心观测方向。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，可实时获取科学发现。在平方公里阵列望远镜（Square Kilometre Array, SKA）第一阶段的时代背景下，实时处理传入的观测数据是核心需求，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场景。本项目已发现的快速射电暴（目前已在该项目中探测到4例）将比此前所有探测到的快速射电暴拥有更为丰富的关联信息。具体而言，本项目的发现滞后时长仅约1秒，而非数月乃至数年。帕克斯（Parkes）望远镜的观测将联合其他射电望远镜开展，尤其是已完成翻新的莫隆格洛（Molonglo）望远镜——该望远镜目前的性能已达到可在2016年独立发现3例快速射电暴的水平——以此实现对已发现快速射电暴的精确定位；随后将根据实际需求触发多台光学及高能望远镜开展后续观测。这一点对于确定快速射电暴的宿主星系至关重要，进而帮助我们揭开其起源之谜，并充分挖掘其作为精密宇宙学测量工具的诸多应用潜力。