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A repeating fast radio burst in an extreme, dynamically evolving environment.
Read on to learn about the initial FRB discovery and our extensive follow-up of the source. This FRB has stimulated many other studies; here I only show those that I led and to which I directly contributed.
Niu et al. 2022: The repeating FRB is discovered and localized to a dwarf galaxy at a redshift z~0.2. A persistent radio counterpart is identified, making this the second FRB with such an association. Its large dispersion measure suggests an unusually dense environment.
Ocker et al. 2022: Two scattering screens are identified, one in the Milky Way and one in the host. Scattering in the host galaxy occurs within 100 pc of the source. Plasma properties are inferred from the dispersion measure, scattering, and H-alpha emission.
Ocker et al. 2023: Variations in the scattering delay are detected between bursts; in one case the scattering changes by more than a factor of 2 within 3 minutes. This is the first detection of scattering variations from an FRB's local environment.
Anna-Thomas et al. 2023: The large rotation measure is observed to flip sign twice, indicating magnetic field reversals have occurred along the sightline. The observations are suggestive of a binary companion, although further confirmation is required.