A search for supernova-like optical counterparts to ASKAP-localised Fast Radio Bursts

Abstract

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-scale radio pulses, which originate in distant galaxies and are produced by unknown sources. The mystery remains partially because of the typical difficulty in localising FRBs to host galaxies. Accurate localisations delivered by the Commensal Real-time ASKAP Fast Transients (CRAFT) survey now provide an opportunity to study the host galaxies and potential transient counterparts of FRBs at a large range of wavelengths. In this work, we investigate whether the first three FRBs accurately localised by CRAFT have supernova-like transient counterparts. We obtained two sets of imaging epochs with the Very Large Telescope for three host galaxies, one soon after the burst detection and one several months later. After subtracting these images no optical counterparts were identified in the associated FRB host galaxies, so we instead place limits on the brightness of any potential optical transients. A Monte Carlo approach, in which supernova light curves were modelled and their base properties randomised, was used to estimate the probability of a supernova associated with each FRB going undetected. We conclude that Type Ia and IIn supernovae are unlikely to accompany every apparently non-repeating FRB.

7 pages, 3 figures. Accepted to Astronomy & Astrophysics on 03 June 2020

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• Multiwavelength observations of Fast Radio Bursts
• Pulsar revival in neutron star mergers: multi-messenger prospects for the discovery of pre-merger coherent radio emission
• The most probable host of CHIME FRB 190425A, associated with binary neutron star merger GW190425, and a late-time transient search
• Constraining bright optical counterparts of Fast Radio Bursts
• Gravitational Microlensing Time Delays at High Optical Depth: Image Parities and the Temporal Properties of Fast Radio Bursts
• Prompt Detection of Fast Optical Bursts with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory
• Detectability of radio afterglows from binary neutron star mergers and implications for fast radio bursts
• Searching for Pulsars, Magnetars, and Fast Radio Bursts in the Sculptor Galaxy using MeerKAT
• Optical Transients from Fast Radio Bursts Heating Companion Stars in Close Binary Systems