The Host Galaxy of the Hyperactive Repeating FRB 20240114A: Behind a Galaxy Cluster

TL;DR

This study presents optical spectroscopic observations of the dwarf galaxy hosting the hyperactive repeating FRB 20240114A, revealing star formation activity, metallicity, and its similarities to other repeating FRB hosts, providing insights into their environments.

Contribution

First detailed spectroscopic analysis of the host galaxy of a hyperactive repeating FRB, highlighting its star formation, metallicity, and comparison with other repeating FRB hosts.

Findings

Host galaxy is a dwarf galaxy at z=0.1306.

Star formation rate is approximately 0.06-0.09 M_sun/yr.

Stellar mass is about 4 x 10^8 M_sun.

Abstract

We report on the optical spectroscopic observations of the host galaxy of the hyperactive repeating fast radio burst, FRB 20240114A. The host galaxy is a dwarf galaxy at a redshift of $z=0.1306\pm0.0002$. With a rest-frame coverage of 4300-7900 \AA, we have detected H$\rm{\alpha}$, H$\rm{\beta}$, [O III]$\lambda\lambda$4959,5007, [N II]$\lambda\lambda$6548,6583, and [S II]$\lambda$6716 emission lines. The emission line ratios suggest that the ionization in the host galaxy is dominated by star formation. The star formation rate (SFR) derived from the H$\rm{\alpha}$ emission line is $(0.06 \pm 0.01) \ \rm{M_{\odot} \ yr^{-1}}$, and the SED fitting suggests the lower limit of the SFR(UV) is $0.09 \ \rm{M_{\odot} \ yr^{-1}}$. The stellar mass is $(\rm 4.0 \pm 1.8) \times 10^8 \ M_{\odot}$, making the specific star formation rate $\rm log \ sSFR(H\rm \alpha) = -9.8 \pm 0.2 \ yr^{-1}$. The line ratios indicate an upper limit of a metallicity of $\rm 12+log_{10} ([O/H]) \sim 8.5$. As the nearest dwarf host galaxy with a repeating FRB, the activity of FRB 20240114A and the properties of this host galaxy closely resemble those of FRB 20121102A and FRB 20190520B. The H$\rm{\alpha}$-traced dispersion measure (DM) provided by the ionized gas of the host galaxy has a moderate contribution of $\sim 200 \rm \ pc \ cm^{-3}$, assuming a warm ionized gas. We found that the distributions of the stellar mass versus SFR are significantly different between repeating and one-off FRBs, as determined by the MANOVA test with $p=0.0116$.