frb-voe: A Real-time Virtual Observatory Event Alert Service for Fast Radio Bursts

TL;DR

frb-voe is a software tool that enables real-time broadcasting of fast radio burst alerts via virtual observatory events, facilitating rapid follow-up observations and data sharing among observatories worldwide.

Contribution

This paper introduces frb-voe, a publicly available system for real-time FRB alert broadcasting, enhancing multi-wavelength follow-up and collaborative astrophysical research.

Findings

Broadcasts thousands of FRB alerts within 13 seconds of detection.

Provides a public database and JSON files of FRB metadata.

Enables observatories to build their own VOEvent broadcasting services.

Abstract

We present frb-voe, a publicly available software package that enables radio observatories to broadcast fast radio burst (FRB) alerts to subscribers through low-latency virtual observatory events (VOEvents). We describe a use-case of frb-voe by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment Fast Radio Burst (CHIME/FRB) Collaboration, which has broadcast thousands of FRB alerts to subscribers worldwide. Using this service, observers have daily opportunities to conduct rapid multi-wavelength follow-up observations of new FRB sources. Alerts are distributed as machine-readable reports and as emails containing FRB metadata, and are available to the public within approximately 13 seconds of detection. A sortable database and a downloadable JSON file containing FRB metadata from all broadcast alerts can be found on the CHIME/FRB public webpage. The frb-voe service also provides users with the ability to retrieve FRB names from the Transient Name Server (TNS) through the frb-voe client user interface (CLI). The frb-voe service can act as a foundation on which any observatory that detects FRBs can build its own VOEvent broadcasting service to contribute to the coordinated multi-wavelength follow-up of astrophysical transients.