Localisation and host galaxy identification of new Fast Radio Bursts with MeerKAT

TL;DR

This paper reports the precise localisation of 15 new Fast Radio Bursts using MeerKAT, identifying host galaxies and measuring their redshifts, which advances understanding of FRB origins and their potential as cosmological tools.

Contribution

It presents one of the largest uniform samples of well-localised distant FRBs, demonstrating MeerKAT's capability for high-precision localisation and host galaxy identification.

Findings

15 FRBs localised with arcsecond precision

Six host galaxies with spectroscopic redshifts from 0.33 to 0.85

Demonstrated MeerKAT's sensitivity to high-redshift FRBs

Abstract

Accurately localising fast radio bursts (FRBs) is essential for understanding their birth environments and for their use as cosmological probes. Recent advances in radio interferometry, particularly with MeerKAT, have enabled the localisation of individual bursts with arcsecond precision. In this work, we present the localisation of 15 apparently non-repeating FRBs detected with MeerKAT. Two of the FRBs, discovered in 2022, were localised in 8 second images from the projects which MeerTRAP was commensal to, while eight were localised using the transient buffer (TB) pipeline, and another one through SeeKAT, all with arcsecond precision. Four additional FRBs lacked TB triggers and sufficient signal, limiting their localisation only to arcminute precision. For eight of the FRBs in our sample, we identify host galaxies with greater than 90% confidence, and one with 80% confidence, while two FRBs have ambiguous associations. We measured spectroscopic redshifts for six host galaxies, ranging from 0.33 to 0.85, demonstrating MeerKAT's sensitivity to high redshift FRBs. We modelled the spectral energy distributions of host galaxies with sufficient photometric coverage to derive their stellar population and star formation properties. This work represents one of the largest uniform samples of well-localised distant FRBs to date, laying the groundwork for using MeerKAT FRBs as cosmological probes and understand how FRB hosts evolve at high redshift.