1 research outputs found
Detection of 15 bursts from FRB 180916.J0158+65 with the uGMRT
We report the findings of a uGMRT observing campaign on FRB 180916.J0158+65,
discovered recently to show a 16.35-day periodicity of its active cycle. We
observed the source at 550-750 MHz for hours each during three
successive cycles at the peak of its expected active period. We find 0, 12, and
3 bursts respectively, implying a highly variable bursting rate even within the
active phase. We consistently detect faint bursts with spectral energies only
an order of magnitude higher than the Galactic burst source SGR~1935+2154. The
times of arrival of the detected bursts rule out many possible aliased
solutions, strengthening the findings of the 16.35-day periodicity. A
short-timescale periodicity search returned no highly significant candidates.
Two of the beamformer-detected bursts were bright enough to be clearly detected
in the imaging data, achieving sub-arcsecond localization, and proving as a
proof-of-concept for FRB imaging with the GMRT. We provide a upper
limit of the persistent radio flux density at 650 MHz of
which, combined with the EVN and VLA limits at 1.6~GHz, further constrains any
potential radio counterpart. These results demonstrate the power of uGMRT for
targeted observations to detect and localize known repeating FRBs.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter