27–30 Jul 2026
Engineering Research Center, Brown University
US/Eastern timezone

The first blind detection of a low-frequency fast radio burst with the Murchison Widefield Array

Not scheduled
20m
Main sessions: Room 190, Break-out sessions: Room 125 (Engineering Research Center, Brown University)

Main sessions: Room 190, Break-out sessions: Room 125

Engineering Research Center, Brown University

Providence, Rhode Island
Pulsars and Fast Transients

Speaker

Cristian Di Pietrantonio

Description

Radio telescopes observing at frequencies above 400 MHz have been routinely detecting fast radio bursts (FRBs) over the past seven years, with the second CHIME catalogue presenting more than 4000 FRBs. In contrast, detections below 300 MHz are still extremely rare, with only one confirmed detection known in the literature. In this talk I will present the first-ever low-frequency (< 300 MHz) FRB detected in a non-targeted search with the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), as opposed to LOFAR’s targeted detections of FRB 20180916B. Only one burst of the MWA FRB has been detected at the time of writing, possibly making it the first non-repeating FRB at frequencies below 300 MHz. In addition to describing its properties, I will also briefly describe the strategies and technologies that led to find the first MWA FRB after 10 years of past attempts. I will discuss the inferred low-frequency FRB rates and compare with the extrapolations from higher frequencies. Finally, I will discuss the physical interpretation and implications of these results for FRB research with low-frequency telescopes such as the upcoming SKA-Low.

Timeslot preferences 30 min

Authors

Co-authors

Dr Bradley Meyers (Curtin University) Danny Price (ICRAR/Curtin) Chia Min Tan (ICRAR/Curtin) Dr Christopher Harris (Pawsey) Randall Wayth (SKAO) Ramesh Bhat (Dr) Clancy James (Curtin University)

Presentation materials

There are no materials yet.