Millimeter Transient Point Sources in the SPTpol 100 Square Degree Survey

• Published in: The Astrophysical Journal
• Main Authors: Whitehorn, N., Crites, A. T., Padin, S.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Astronomical Society 2016
• Subjects: South Pole; South pole
• Online Access: https://authors.library.caltech.edu/71234/; https://authors.library.caltech.edu/71234/1/Whitehorn_2016_ApJ_830_143.pdf; https://authors.library.caltech.edu/71234/2/1604.03507v2.pdf; https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20161018-145206739

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 (CMB), offer the possibility to discover new, unknown transient sources in this band—particularly the afterglows of unobserved gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Here, we use the 10 m millimeter-wave South Pole Telescope, designed for the primary purpose of observing the CMB 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 deg^2 patch of sky centered at R.A. 23h30m and decl. −55° using the polarization-sensitive SPTpol camera in two bands centered at 95 and 150 GHz. These 6000 hr 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 GRB afterglow, but at a statistical significance too low (p = 0.01) to confirm detection.