Speaker
Description
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are among the most mysterious and exciting phenomena in modern astrophysics. These are extremely energetic bursts originating from extragalactic distances, providing unique probes of the intergalactic medium and offering new ways to study the universe at cosmological scales. Despite major progress in recent years, many questions remain open about their origins, emission processes, and local environments.
To address these questions, we established the HyperFlash program, a coordinated, high-cadence FRB monitoring effort using 25-32 m class radio telescopes across Europe at Westerbork (NL), Torun (PL), Onsala (SE), Stockert (DE) and Dwingeloo (NL). Our goal is to observe the brightest and rarest FRBs.
Since 2021, we have accumulated close to 42,000 hours of observations, resulting so far in hundreds of burst detections, enabling constraints on burst energetics and local source environments.
In this talk, I will give an overview of HyperFlash’s main results, demonstrating how "small" radio telescopes can make meaningful contributions through persistent, high-cadence observing. Finally, I will present our latest technical development: the design and ongoing commissioning of a new ambient-cooled L-band receiver (ALF) for the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope.
| Talk category | Plenary |
|---|---|
| Second preference | Nova Network 3 |
| PhD relevance | 4th |
