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CRAFT (The Commensal Real-time ASKAP Fast Transients survey)
is an ASKAP Survey Science Project for transient sources with timescales shorter than 5 seconds.
Its aim is to take advantage of ASKAP's wide field of view to survey the Universe for
impulsive astrophysical phenomena.
A particular target of interest is Fast
Radio Bursts. The cause of FRB emission is a topic of hot debate, as
are their progenitor objects. FRBs occur at cosmological distances
and their radiation is subject to dispersion by the tenuous
matter in the ionized Inter-Galactic Medium, which offers the potential to
probe the structure, physical properties and evolution of the IGM in a
manner that has not previously been possible.
ASKAP was the first telescope able to detect and localise (i.e., pinpoint
to sufficient accuracy that the host galaxy could be identified)
one-off FRBs, which is critical to better understanding these events.
Members of the CRAFT team met at Marsfield last week to
discuss, among other topics, progress with the CRAFT COherent upgrade (CRACO) system,
which has recently been commissioned and provides a significant
boost in sensitivity for FRB detection.
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