With its wide field of view, ASKAP is ideal for finding and then localising radio transients. Murriyang, our Parkes radio telescope was used to discover the first fast radio burst (FRB) and, with its wide-bandwith receiver, continues to probe the nature of these enigmatic sources. ASKAP, ATCA and the LBA are all used to monitor and detect slow radio transients, such as ultra-long period objects and stellar flares.
Capabilities
| Facility | Capabilities |
| ASKAP | For transients that last for minutes to years, the CASDA data archive provides the data products produced by the RACS and VAST survey teams. RACS has multiple epochs using the low-, mid- and high-bands and covering the observable sky. VAST observes a subset of the sky every few weeks to months. These data products are available as images, catalogues or raw visibilities. Guest Science Project allocations (called for twice a year) allow for more bespoke scientific observations. For faster transients (such as fast radio bursts) the CRACO instrument allows Guest Science Project teams to search for such fast transients, currently in a shared risk mode. |
| ATCA | The ATCA has a rapid response mode allowing it to be observe a radio transient source soon after a trigger. It is commonly used to study radio synchrotron transient events such as those associated with supernovae and accretion-powered outbursts. It is primarily used for wide-bandwidth (increasing to 8 GHz bandwidth with the BIGCAT backend), high astrometric precision to better localise a source detected using another instrument and with rapid response and follow-up to multi-messenger events. |
| Murriyang | High time resolution data streams can be recorded from the wide-bandwidth receiver and from the cryogenically cooled phased array feed. The data products are archived in PSRFITS search-mode format and can be processed using standard tools such as PRESTO. |
| LBA | Used for precise localisation of transients (from e.g., transient sources detected in ASKAP surveys). |
