Large-area transient surveys are a powerful source of information on a wide class of high-energy astrophysical objects, including gamma-ray burst afterglows, the jet launch area of active galactic nuclei, tidal-disruption events, and stellar flares. Current transient surveys operate at nearly every wavelength from gamma rays through radio, but the millimeter wavelength range is comparatively unexplored. However, current generation cosmic microwave observatories have the necessary cadence and daily sensitivity to fill this millimeter-wave gap. I will present the first results of an astronomical transient survey with the South Pole Telescope (SPT), using the SPT-3G camera to observe 1500 square degrees of the southern sky at 95 and 150 GHz. Between March and November 2020 we observed fifteen transient events from sources not previously detected by the SPT. The majority are brief and extremely bright and are associated with variable stars of different types. Another population of detected events last for 2--3 weeks and appear to be extragalactic in origin. I will introduce the SPT-3G instrument, present a selection of events from our first transient survey, and discuss our outlook for 2021 and beyond where we plan to increase our number of detected sources by at least an order of magnitude.
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2021-04-12T15:00:002021-04-12T16:00:00Exploring The Transient Sky At Millimeter Wavelengths With SPT-3GEvent Information:
Large-area transient surveys are a powerful source of information on a wide class of high-energy astrophysical objects, including gamma-ray burst afterglows, the jet launch area of active galactic nuclei, tidal-disruption events, and stellar flares. Current transient surveys operate at nearly every wavelength from gamma rays through radio, but the millimeter wavelength range is comparatively unexplored. However, current generation cosmic microwave observatories have the necessary cadence and daily sensitivity to fill this millimeter-wave gap. I will present the first results of an astronomical transient survey with the South Pole Telescope (SPT), using the SPT-3G camera to observe 1500 square degrees of the southern sky at 95 and 150 GHz. Between March and November 2020 we observed fifteen transient events from sources not previously detected by the SPT. The majority are brief and extremely bright and are associated with variable stars of different types. Another population of detected events last for 2--3 weeks and appear to be extragalactic in origin. I will introduce the SPT-3G instrument, present a selection of events from our first transient survey, and discuss our outlook for 2021 and beyond where we plan to increase our number of detected sources by at least an order of magnitude. Event Location:
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