When Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) arrived at the Australian Square
Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope, they were identified in
less than half a second. The last 3 seconds of data from every
operational ASKAP antenna were then frozen and saved. Data were
streamed off-site for offline supercomputer processing
("correlation"), turning raw voltages into visibilities. These data
were then imaged at the dispersion measure (DM) and time of the FRB
for localisation. The astrometry of FRB position is carried out using
the Australia Compact Array Telescope (ATCA), refining the position of
the FRB. Once, a reliable position is obtained, optical telescopes
were triggered to study the global properties of FRB host galaxies.
More details are given in
the paper by Bhandari et al.,
published in Astrophysical Journal Letters.
(Image credit: Alex Cherney).
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