We report on the host association of FRB 20181030A, a repeating fast radio burst (FRB) with a low dispersion measure (DM, 103.5 pc cm−3) discovered by CHIME/FRB Collaboration et al. (2019a). Using baseband voltage data saved for its repeat bursts, we localize the FRB to a sky area of 5.3 sq. arcmin (90% confidence). Within the FRB localization region, we identify NGC 3252 as the most promising host, with an estimated chance coincidence probability <2.5×10−3. Moreover, we do not find any other galaxy with Mr<−15 AB mag within the localization region to the maximum estimated FRB redshift of 0.05. This rules out a dwarf host 5 times less luminous than any FRB host discovered to date. NGC 3252 is a star-forming spiral galaxy, and at a distance of ≈ 20 Mpc, it is one of the closest FRB hosts discovered thus far. From our archival radio data search, we estimate a 3σ upper limit on the luminosity of a persistent compact radio source (source size < 0.3 kpc at 20 Mpc) at 3 GHz to be 2×1026ergs−1Hz−1, at least 1500 times smaller than that of the FRB 20121102A persistent radio source. We also argue that a population of young millisecond magnetars alone cannot explain the observed volumetric rate of repeating FRBs. Finally, FRB 20181030A is a promising source for constraining FRB emission models due to its proximity, and we strongly encourage its multi-wavelength follow-up.
@article{arxiv.2108.12122,
title = {A Local Universe Host for the Repeating Fast Radio Burst FRB 20181030A},
author = {M. Bhardwaj and A. Yu. Kirichenko and D. Michilli and Y. D. Mayya and V. M. Kaspi and B. M. Gaensler and M. Rahman and S. P. Tendulkar and E. Fonseca and Alexander Josephy and C. Leung and Marcus Merryfield and Emily Petroff and Z. Pleunis and Pranav Sanghavi and P. Scholz and K. Shin and Kendrick M. Smith and I. H. Stairs},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2108.12122},
year = {2021}
}