Millimeter Transient Point Sources in the SPTpol 100 Square Degree Survey

N. Whitehorn; T. Natoli; P. A. R. Ade; J. E. Austermann; J. A. Beall; A. N. Bender; B. A. Benson; L. E. Bleem; J. E. Carlstrom; C. L. Chang; H. C. Chiang; H-M. Cho; R. Citron; T. M. Crawford; A. T. Crites; T. de Haan; M. A. Dobbs; W. Everett; J. Gallicchio; E. M. George; A. Gilbert; N. W. Halverson; N. Harrington; J. W. Henning; G. C. Hilton; G. P. Holder; W. L. Holzapfel; S. Hoover; Z. Hou; J. D. Hrubes; N. Huang; J. Hubmayr; K. D. Irwin; R. Keisler; L. Knox; A. T. Lee; E. M. Leitch; D. Li; J. J. McMahon; S. S. Meyer; L. Mocanu; J. P. Nibarger; V. Novosad; S. Padin; C. Pryke; C. L. Reichardt; J. E. Ruhl; B. R. Saliwanchik; J. T. Sayre; K. K. Schaffer; G. Smecher; A. A. Stark; K. T. Story; C. Tucker; K. Vanderlinde; J. D. Vieira; G. Wang; V. Yefremenko

doi:10.3847/0004-637x/830/2/143

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arXiv · 1604.03507

Millimeter Transient Point Sources in the SPTpol 100 Square Degree Survey

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Abstract

The millimeter transient sky is largely unexplored, with measurements limited to follow-up of objects detected at other wavelengths. High-angular-resolution telescopes designed for measurement of the cosmic microwave background offer the possibility to discover new, unknown transient sources in this band, particularly the afterglows of unobserved gamma-ray bursts. Here we use the 10-meter millimeter-wave South Pole Telescope, designed for the primary purpose of observing the cosmic microwave background at arcminute and larger angular scales, to conduct a search for such objects. During the 2012-2013 season, the telescope was used to continuously observe a 100 square degree patch of sky centered at RA 23h30m and declination -55 degrees using the polarization-sensitive SPTpol camera in two bands centered at 95 and 150 GHz. These 6000 hours of observations provided continuous monitoring for day- to month-scale millimeter-wave transient sources at the 10 mJy level. One candidate object was observed with properties broadly consistent with a gamma-ray burst afterglow, but at a statistical significance too low (p=0.01) to confirm detection.

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N. Whitehorn, T. Natoli, P. A. R. Ade, J. E. Austermann, J. A. Beall, A. N. Bender, B. A. Benson, L. E. Bleem, J. E. Carlstrom, C. L. Chang, H. C. Chiang, H-M. Cho, R. Citron, T. M. Crawford, A. T. Crites, T. de Haan, M. A. Dobbs, W. Everett, J. Gallicchio, E. M. George, A. Gilbert, N. W. Halverson, N. Harrington, J. W. Henning, G. C. Hilton, G. P. Holder, W. L. Holzapfel, S. Hoover, Z. Hou, J. D. Hrubes, N. Huang, J. Hubmayr, K. D. Irwin, R. Keisler, L. Knox, A. T. Lee, E. M. Leitch, D. Li, J. J. McMahon, S. S. Meyer, L. Mocanu, J. P. Nibarger, V. Novosad, S. Padin, C. Pryke, C. L. Reichardt, J. E. Ruhl, B. R. Saliwanchik, J. T. Sayre, K. K. Schaffer, G. Smecher, A. A. Stark, K. T. Story, C. Tucker, K. Vanderlinde, J. D. Vieira, G. Wang, V. Yefremenko. 2016-07-28. Millimeter Transient Point Sources in the SPTpol 100 Square Degree Survey. https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637x%2F830%2F2%2F143

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