Kavli Affiliate: Kiyoshi W. Masui
| First 5 Authors: Tomas Cassanelli, Calvin Leung, Pranav Sanghavi, Juan Mena-Parra, Savannah Cary
| Summary:
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-duration, luminous radio transients
of extragalactic origin. These events have been used to trace the baryonic
structure of the Universe using their dispersion measure (DM) assuming that the
contribution from host galaxies can be reliably estimated. However,
contributions from the immediate environment of an FRB may dominate the
observed DM, thus making redshift estimates challenging without a robust host
galaxy association. Furthermore, while at least one Galactic burst has been
associated with a magnetar, other localized FRBs argue against magnetars as the
sole progenitor model. Precise localization within the host galaxy can
discriminate between progenitor models, a major goal of the field. Until now,
localizations on this spatial scale have only been carried out in follow-up
observations of repeating sources. Here we demonstrate the localization of FRB
20210603A with very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) on two baselines, using
data collected only at the time of detection. We localize the burst to SDSS
J004105.82+211331.9, an edge-on galaxy at $zapprox 0.177$, and detect recent
star formation in the kiloparsec-scale vicinity of the burst. The edge-on
inclination of the host galaxy allows for a unique comparison between the line
of sight towards the FRB and lines of sight towards known Galactic pulsars. The
DM, Faraday rotation measure (RM), and scattering suggest a progenitor
coincident with the host galactic plane, strengthening the link between the
environment of FRB 20210603A and the disk of its host galaxy. Single-pulse VLBI
localizations of FRBs to within their host galaxies, following the one
presented here, will further constrain the origins and host environments of
one-off FRBs.
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