| 15th of January 2024 |
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| Royal Astronomical Society Award for ASKAP FRB research |
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The 2024 Jackson-Gwilt Award has been awarded to Keith Bannister and
Ryan Shannon for their innovative use of ASKAP in studies of
Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs).
The citation reads,
"The combination of the small field-of-view of most radio telescopes and their inability to
pinpoint the origins of FRBs, meant that, in the decade after their 2007 discovery, fewer
than 20 FRBs had been found and confirmed to reside in other galaxies.
Working on the CSIRO’s ASKAP radio telescope in Australia, Dr Keith Bannister and
Professor Ryan Shannon developed a GPU-based detection system capable of
searching antennas independently, and a “fly’s-eye” mode to maximise the observed
field-of-view.
After deploying their new system, the first FRB was found in less than five days, and in
the next year they collected a sample of 20 FRBs, nearly doubling the previous
decade’s haul."
The Jackson-Gwilt Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society is awarded for outstanding invention, improvement, or development of astronomical or geophysical instrumentation or techniques. Previous winners have included Joss Bland-Hawthorn (2012), David Malin (1986), Grote Reber (1983), Patrick Moore (1977), and John Tebbutt (1905). (Image credit: RAS) |