The Northern High Time Resolution Universe pulsar survey: III. Single-pulse search continuation, follow-up observations, and initial results

TL;DR

This paper reports on ongoing single-pulse searches in the northern HTRU survey, including the first FRB detection, new RRAT discoveries, and analysis of detection rate dependencies on Galactic coordinates.

Contribution

It presents the first FRB detected in this survey, new RRAT discoveries, and insights into the spatial distribution of faint Galactic single pulses.

Findings

First FRB detected with the Effelsberg telescope at DM 501.0 pc/cm³.

Discovered a new RRAT, J0404+53, previously misclassified.

Detection rates vary with Galactic latitude and longitude, indicating a faint Galactic population.

Abstract

We continued the search for single pulses (SPs) in the northern part of the all-sky High Time Resolution Universe survey, whose aim is to detect pulsars and other radio transients. This search is now about 21% complete and has yielded the first discovery of a fast radio burst (FRB) with the 100 m Effelsberg Radio Telescope. FRB20110220A was detected with an S/N-optimised dispersion measure of 501.0 pc/cm$^{3}$ and a width of 11.9 $\pm$ 3.5 ms, for a fluence of 0.6 $\pm$ 0.1 Jy ms. We obtained the first L-band detection of the rotating radio transient (RRAT) J2028+28, from which we obtained upper limits on the source's period and burst rate, as well as an improved position. We also discovered a new RRAT, J0404+53, which had previously been reported as an isolated SP candidate. Eight new SP trains and 272 faint isolated SP candidates were detected too. We used these candidates to demonstrate that their all-sky detection rates depend on Galactic latitude and longitude. This direction dependence suggests the existence of a faint Galactic SP population.