Exploring the Time-Varying Universe at Millimeter Wavelengths with the South Pole Telescope

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

Telescopes designed for observing signals made by the Cosmic Microwave Background also provide a unique opportunity for long-term monitoring of large areas of the sky for variable astronomical sources at millimeter-sized wavelengths. This is a spectral region of observational astronomy now largely unexplored. The investigators will use the South Pole Telescope to conduct the first systematic survey of the sky in the millimeter band. This survey could reach sensitivities that would allow the first detections of Gamma Ray Bursts made by the first generation of stars during very early stages of the development of the universe. It will also produce a wealth of detailed data on variability within active galaxies with time, and has the capability of detecting very fast radio bursts. These data will generate many opportunities for university undergraduate students to work with a large, novel, and ready-to-analyze data set. This program uses the South Pole Telescope to conduct a real-time survey of 2500 square degrees of sky in the 90-220 GHz band for transient and variable sources, targeting in particular gamma ray burst afterglows, active galaxies, and fast radio bursts. Using the 3rd-generation receiver (to be deployed in the 2016-2017 austral summer), this survey will cover 6% of the sky hourly over a period of two years. This has the sensitivity potential to make the first detections of gamma-ray burst afterglows unassociated with a gamma-ray trigger. This program will improve on the existing best sensitivity in this spectral range by a factor of 50, address a number of open questions in high-energy astrophysics, and firmly establish Cosmic Microwave Background telescopes as tools for time-domain astronomy.