Parkes observations for project P879 semester 2014OCTS11

Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are millisecond bursts that are broadly evidenced to arise from extragalactic, but yet unknown, progenitors. They have presented a true mystery in that so far no progenitor theory can adequately account for their observed properties. We request observations that will glean basic information on FRB progenitors. Our observations will execute a specific test of whether FRBs originate in nearby galaxies. We have also designed our target field and time request to enable a thorough exploration of optical counterparts before, during, and after any detected FRB episode. Additionally, with a number depending on the typical distance to FRBs, our observations will raise the running list of total FRB discoveries by 10-60%.

快速射电暴（Fast Radio Bursts, FRBs）是一类毫秒级爆发现象，目前已有充分证据表明其起源于河外星系，但其前身天体仍未明确。迄今为止尚无任何前身天体理论能够充分解释其观测到的物理特性，因此该现象始终是天文学领域的一大未解之谜。本研究申请开展相关观测以获取快速射电暴前身天体的基础信息，本次观测将开展一项针对性检验，以确认快速射电暴是否起源于近邻星系。此外，我们还针对观测天区与观测时长进行了精心设计，以便能够在任意一次探测到的快速射电暴事件发生前、发生期间及发生后，对其光学对应体开展全面的探索研究。基于快速射电暴的典型距离尺度，本次观测将使已发现的快速射电暴总数量提升10%至60%。