A search for the host galaxy of FRB171020

Abstract

We report on a search for the host galaxy of FRB171020, the fast radio burst with the smallest recorded dispersion measure (DM $=114$ pc cm${}^{-3}$) of our on-ongoing ASKAP survey. The low DM confines the burst location within a sufficiently small volume to rigorously constrain the identity of the host galaxy. We identify 16 candidate galaxies in the search volume and single out ESO 601-G036, a Sc galaxy at redshift $z=0.00867$, as the most likely host galaxy. UV and optical imaging and spectroscopy reveal this galaxy has a star-formation rate of approximately 0.1 M${}_{\odot }$ yr${}^{-1}$ and oxygen abundance $12+\log (O/H)=8.3\pm 0.2$, properties remarkably consistent with the galaxy hosting the repeating FRB121102. However, in contrast to FRB121102, follow-up radio observations of ESO 601-G036 show no compact radio emission above a 5$\sigma$ limit of $L_{2.1\mathrm{GHz}}=3.6\times 10^{19}$ W Hz${}^{-1}$. Using radio continuum observations of the field, combined with archival optical imaging data, we find no analog to the persistent radio source associated with FRB121102 within the localization region of FRB171020 out to $z=0.06$. These results suggest that FRBs are not necessarily associated with a luminous and compact radio continuum source.

arXiv commentSubmitted to ApJL

References in corpus (32)

• Astropy: A Community Python Package for Astronomy
• Planck 2015 results. XIII. Cosmological parameters
• The ATNF Pulsar Catalogue
• [O III]/[N II] as an Abundance Indicator at High Redshift
• X-shooter, the new wide band intermediate resolution spectrograph at the ESO Very Large Telescope
• A New Electron Density Model for Estimation of Pulsar and FRB Distances
• A Repeating Fast Radio Burst
• The direct localization of a fast radio burst and its host
• The Host Galaxy and Redshift of the Repeating Fast Radio Burst FRB 121102
• The HIPASS Catalogue - I. Data Presentation
• The 6dF Galaxy Survey: Samples, Observational Techniques and the First Data Release
• The HST Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale. XXVIII. Combining the Constraints on the Hubble Constant
• An extreme magneto-ionic environment associated with the fast radio burst source FRB 121102
• FRBCAT: The Fast Radio Burst Catalogue
• The Repeating Fast Radio Burst FRB 121102 as Seen on Milliarcsecond Angular Scales
• Dense magnetized plasma associated with a fast radio burst
• Locating the "missing" baryons with extragalactic dispersion measure estimates
• Cosmic Dispersion Measure from Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglows: Probing the Reionization History and the Burst Environment
• Probing the Cosmic Reionization History and Local Environment of Gamma-Ray Bursts through Radio Dispersion
• The Structure of the Milky Way's Hot Gas Halo
• The SUrvey for Pulsars and Extragalactic Radio Bursts II: New FRB discoveries and their follow-up
• Host Galaxies Catalog Used in LIGO Searches for Compact Binary Coalescence Events
• The Southern Sky Redshift Survey
• The detection of an extremely bright fast radio burst in a phased array feed survey
• FRB 121102 is coincident with a star forming region in its host galaxy
• WISE x SuperCOSMOS photometric redshift catalog: 20 million galaxies over 3pi steradians
• Extragalactic dispersion measures of fast radio bursts
• A polarized fast radio burst at low Galactic latitude
• Associating Fast Radio Bursts with Their Host Galaxies
• The SUrvey for Pulsars and Extragalactic Radio Bursts III: Polarization properties of FRBs 160102 & 151230
• Characterising uniform star formation efficiencies with marginally-stable galactic disks
• Associating Fast Radio Bursts with Extragalactic Radio Sources: General Methodology and a Search for a Counterpart to FRB 170107

Cited by in corpus (45)

• A census of baryons in the Universe from localized fast radio bursts
• Fast Radio Bursts
• A repeating fast radio burst source localised to a nearby spiral galaxy
• The Physics of Fast Radio Bursts
• Characterizing the FRB host galaxy population and its connection to transients in the local and extragalactic Universe
• Fast Radio Bursts from Magnetars Born in Binary Neutron Star Mergers and Accretion Induced Collapse
• The z-DM distribution of fast radio bursts
• The Galactic Halo Contribution to the Dispersion Measure of Extragalactic Fast Radio Bursts
• Are all fast radio bursts repeating sources?
• Chronicling the Host Galaxy Properties of the Remarkable Repeating FRB 20201124A
• The Fast Radio Burst Luminosity Function and Death Line in the Low-Twist Magnetar Model
• Exploring the dispersion measure of the Milky Way halo
• On the Fast Radio Burst and Persistent Radio Source Populations
• The Commensal Real-time ASKAP Fast Transient incoherent-sum survey
• How bright are fast optical bursts associated with fast radio bursts?
• The Fast Radio Burst Dispersion Measure Distribution
• Probing Diffuse Gas with Fast Radio Bursts
• The FRB 121102 host is atypical among nearby FRBs
• Multiwavelength observations of Fast Radio Bursts
• Measuring Hubble constant using localized and unlocalized fast radio bursts
• Using negative-latency gravitational wave alerts to detect prompt radio bursts from binary neutron star mergers with the Murchison Widefield Array
• Persistent Radio Emission from Synchrotron Heating by a Repeating Fast Radio Burst Source in a Nebula
• WALLABY Pilot Survey: HI in the host galaxy of a Fast Radio Burst
• A Survey of the Galactic Plane for Dispersed Pulses with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder
• Energy function, formation rate and low-metallicity environment of fast radio bursts
• Constraining Redshifts of Unlocalised Fast Radio Bursts
• The Host Galaxy of FRB 20171020A Revisited
• A Southern sky search for repeating Fast Radio Bursts using the Australian SKA Pathfinder
• Probing Cosmology with 92 Localized Fast Radio Bursts and DESI BAO
• Redshift estimates for fast radio bursts and implications on intergalactic magnetic fields
• Linking Extragalactic Transients and their Host Galaxy Properties: Transient Sample, Multi-Wavelength Host Identification, and Database Construction
• A Search of TESS Full Frame Images for a Simultaneous Optical Counterpart to FRB181228
• Fast Radio Bursts as probes of the late-time universe: a new insight on the Hubble tension
• An optimised gravitational wave follow-up strategy with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder
• Reinvestigation of Fast Radio Burst Host Galaxy and Event Rate Density
• The dispersion measure and scattering of Fast Radio Bursts: contributions from multi-components, and clues for the intrinsic properties
• The Fast Radio Burst Population Energy Distribution
• Constraining Fundamental Constants with Fast Radio Bursts: Unveiling the Role of Energy Scale
• Detectability of radio afterglows from binary neutron star mergers and implications for fast radio bursts
• Refined Constraints on the Hubble Constant from Localized FRBs with Assessment of Systematic Effects
• Revealing Limitation in the Standard Cosmological Model: A Redshift-Dependent Hubble Constant from Fast Radio Bursts
• Probing Cosmic Curvature with Fast Radio Bursts and DESI DR2
• 3D Localization of FRB 20190425A for Its Potential Host Galaxy and Implications
• Checking the Empirical Relations with the Current Localized Fast Radio Bursts
• Unveiling the distribution and redshift dependence of host galaxy dispersion measures using localized fast radio bursts