A repeating fast radio burst source in a globular cluster

doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04354-w

. 2022 Feb;602(7898):585-589.

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04354-w. Epub 2022 Feb 23.

A repeating fast radio burst source in a globular cluster

F Kirsten^{1

2}, B Marcote³, K Nimmo^{4

5}, J W T Hessels^{4

5}, M Bhardwaj^{6

7}, S P Tendulkar^{8

9}, A Keimpema³, J Yang¹⁰, M P Snelders⁵, P Scholz¹¹, A B Pearlman^{6

7

12}, C J Law^{13

14}, W M Peters¹⁵, M Giroletti¹⁶, Z Paragi³, C Bassa⁴, D M Hewitt⁵, U Bach¹⁷, V Bezrukovs¹⁸, M Burgay¹⁹, S T Buttaccio²⁰, J E Conway¹⁰, A Corongiu¹⁹, R Feiler²¹, O Forssén¹⁰, M P Gawroński²¹, R Karuppusamy¹⁷, M A Kharinov²², M Lindqvist¹⁰, G Maccaferri¹⁶, A Melnikov²², O S Ould-Boukattine⁵, A Possenti^{19

23}, G Surcis¹⁹, N Wang²⁴, J Yuan²⁴, K Aggarwal^{25

26}, R Anna-Thomas^{25

26}, G C Bower²⁷, R Blaauw⁴, S Burke-Spolaor^{25

26

28}, T Cassanelli^{11

29}, T E Clarke¹⁵, E Fonseca^{6

7

25

26}, B M Gaensler^{11

29}, A Gopinath⁵, V M Kaspi^{6

7}, N Kassim¹⁵, T J W Lazio³⁰, C Leung^{31

32}, D Z Li¹³, H H Lin^{33

34}, K W Masui^{31

32}, R Mckinven¹¹, D Michilli^{6

7

31

32}, A G Mikhailov²², C Ng¹¹, A Orbidans¹⁸, U L Pen^{11

28

33

35

34}, E Petroff^{5

6

7}, M Rahman³⁶, S M Ransom³⁷, K Shin^{31

32}, K M Smith³⁵, I H Stairs³⁸, W Vlemmings¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ Department of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology, Onsala Space Observatory, Onsala, Sweden. kirsten@astron.nl.
² ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Dwingeloo, The Netherlands. kirsten@astron.nl.
³ Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC, Dwingeloo, The Netherlands.
⁴ ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Dwingeloo, The Netherlands.
⁵ Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
⁶ Department of Physics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
⁷ McGill Space Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
⁸ Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India.
⁹ National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Pune, India.
¹⁰ Department of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology, Onsala Space Observatory, Onsala, Sweden.
¹¹ Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹² Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
¹³ Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
¹⁴ Owens Valley Radio Observatory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
¹⁵ Remote Sensing Division, US Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA.
¹⁶ Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Istituto di Radioastronomia, Bologna, Italy.
¹⁷ Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Bonn, Germany.
¹⁸ Engineering Research Institute Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre (ERI VIRAC), Ventspils University of Applied Sciences (VUAS), Ventspils, Latvia.
¹⁹ Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari, Selargius, Italy.
²⁰ Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Istituto di Radioastronomia Radiotelescopio di Noto, Noto, Italy.
²¹ Institute of Astronomy, Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Informatics, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland.
²² Institute of Applied Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia.
²³ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Cagliari, Monserrato, Italy.
²⁴ Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, Urumqi, China.
²⁵ Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.
²⁶ Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.
²⁷ Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Hilo, HI, USA.
²⁸ Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
²⁹ David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
³⁰ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
³¹ MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
³² Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
³³ Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
³⁴ Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
³⁵ Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
³⁶ Sidrat Research, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
³⁷ National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
³⁸ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

PMID: 35197615
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04354-w

A repeating fast radio burst source in a globular cluster

F Kirsten et al. Nature. 2022 Feb.

. 2022 Feb;602(7898):585-589.

doi: 10.1038/s41586-021-04354-w. Epub 2022 Feb 23.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology, Onsala Space Observatory, Onsala, Sweden. kirsten@astron.nl.
² ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Dwingeloo, The Netherlands. kirsten@astron.nl.
³ Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC, Dwingeloo, The Netherlands.
⁴ ASTRON, Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, Dwingeloo, The Netherlands.
⁵ Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
⁶ Department of Physics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
⁷ McGill Space Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
⁸ Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India.
⁹ National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Pune, India.
¹⁰ Department of Space, Earth and Environment, Chalmers University of Technology, Onsala Space Observatory, Onsala, Sweden.
¹¹ Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
¹² Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
¹³ Cahill Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
¹⁴ Owens Valley Radio Observatory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
¹⁵ Remote Sensing Division, US Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC, USA.
¹⁶ Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Istituto di Radioastronomia, Bologna, Italy.
¹⁷ Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, Bonn, Germany.
¹⁸ Engineering Research Institute Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre (ERI VIRAC), Ventspils University of Applied Sciences (VUAS), Ventspils, Latvia.
¹⁹ Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Osservatorio Astronomico di Cagliari, Selargius, Italy.
²⁰ Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Istituto di Radioastronomia Radiotelescopio di Noto, Noto, Italy.
²¹ Institute of Astronomy, Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Informatics, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń, Poland.
²² Institute of Applied Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia.
²³ Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Cagliari, Monserrato, Italy.
²⁴ Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory, Urumqi, China.
²⁵ Department of Physics and Astronomy, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.
²⁶ Center for Gravitational Waves and Cosmology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.
²⁷ Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Hilo, HI, USA.
²⁸ Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholar, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
²⁹ David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
³⁰ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA.
³¹ MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
³² Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
³³ Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
³⁴ Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
³⁵ Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
³⁶ Sidrat Research, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
³⁷ National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Charlottesville, VA, USA.
³⁸ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

PMID: 35197615
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04354-w

Abstract

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are flashes of unknown physical origin¹. The majority of FRBs have been seen only once, although some are known to generate multiple flashes^2,3. Many models invoke magnetically powered neutron stars (magnetars) as the source of the emission^4,5. Recently, the discovery⁶ of another repeater (FRB 20200120E) was announced, in the direction of the nearby galaxy M81, with four potential counterparts at other wavelengths⁶. Here we report observations that localized the FRB to a globular cluster associated with M81, where it is 2 parsecs away from the optical centre of the cluster. Globular clusters host old stellar populations, challenging FRB models that invoke young magnetars formed in a core-collapse supernova. We propose instead that FRB 20200120E originates from a highly magnetized neutron star formed either through the accretion-induced collapse of a white dwarf, or the merger of compact stars in a binary system⁷. Compact binaries are efficiently formed inside globular clusters, so a model invoking them could also be responsible for the observed bursts.

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Comment in

Radio bursts from among the oldest stars.
Ravi V. Ravi V. Nature. 2022 Feb;602(7898):583-584. doi: 10.1038/d41586-022-00465-0. Nature. 2022. PMID: 35197613 No abstract available.

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References

1. Petroff, E., Hessels, J. W. T. & Lorimer, D. R. Fast radio bursts. Astron. Astrophys. Rev. 27, 4 (2019). - DOI
1. Spitler, L. G. et al. A repeating fast radio burst. Nature 531, 202–205 (2016). - DOI - PubMed
1. The CHIME/FRB Collaboration. The first CHIME/FRB fast radio burst catalog. Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 257, 59 (2021). - DOI
1. Margalit, B. & Metzger, B. D. A concordance picture of FRB 121102 as a flaring magnetar embedded in a magnetized ion–electron wind nebula. Astrophys. J. Lett. 868, 4 (2018). - DOI
1. The CHIME/FRB Collaboration. A bright millisecond-duration radio burst from a Galactic magnetar. Nature 587, 54–58 (2020). - DOI

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[1] Petroff, E., Hessels, J. W. T. & Lorimer, D. R. Fast radio bursts. Astron. Astrophys. Rev. 27, 4 (2019). - DOI

[2] Petroff, E., Hessels, J. W. T. & Lorimer, D. R. Fast radio bursts. Astron. Astrophys. Rev. 27, 4 (2019). - DOI

[3] Spitler, L. G. et al. A repeating fast radio burst. Nature 531, 202–205 (2016). - DOI - PubMed

[4] Spitler, L. G. et al. A repeating fast radio burst. Nature 531, 202–205 (2016). - DOI - PubMed

[5] The CHIME/FRB Collaboration. The first CHIME/FRB fast radio burst catalog. Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 257, 59 (2021). - DOI

[6] The CHIME/FRB Collaboration. The first CHIME/FRB fast radio burst catalog. Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 257, 59 (2021). - DOI

[7] Margalit, B. & Metzger, B. D. A concordance picture of FRB 121102 as a flaring magnetar embedded in a magnetized ion–electron wind nebula. Astrophys. J. Lett. 868, 4 (2018). - DOI

[8] Margalit, B. & Metzger, B. D. A concordance picture of FRB 121102 as a flaring magnetar embedded in a magnetized ion–electron wind nebula. Astrophys. J. Lett. 868, 4 (2018). - DOI

[9] The CHIME/FRB Collaboration. A bright millisecond-duration radio burst from a Galactic magnetar. Nature 587, 54–58 (2020). - DOI

[10] The CHIME/FRB Collaboration. A bright millisecond-duration radio burst from a Galactic magnetar. Nature 587, 54–58 (2020). - DOI

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A repeating fast radio burst source in a globular cluster

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A repeating fast radio burst source in a globular cluster

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