A Milliarcsecond Localization Associates FRB 20190417A with a Compact Persistent Radio Source and an Extreme Magnetoionic Environment

  • Alexandra M. Moroianu
  • , Shivani Bhandari
  • , Maria R. Drout
  • , Jason W. T. Hessels
  • , Dante M. Hewitt
  • , Franz Kirsten
  • , Benito Marcote
  • , Ziggy Pleunis
  • , Mark P. Snelders
  • , Navin Sridhar
  • , Uwe Bach
  • , Emmanuel K. Bempong-Manful
  • , Vladislavs Bezrukovs
  • , Richard Blaauw
  • , Justin D. Bray
  • , Salvatore Buttaccio
  • , Shami Chatterjee
  • , Alessandro Corongiu
  • , Roman Feiler
  • , B. M. Gaensler
  • Marcin P. Gawronski, Marcello Giroletti, Adaeze L. Ibik, Ramesh Karuppusamy, Mattias Lazda, Calvin Leung, Michael Lindqvist, Kiyoshi W. Masui, Daniele Michilli, Kenzie Nimmo, Omar S. Ould-Boukattine, Ayush Pandhi, Zsolt Paragi, Aaron B. Pearlman, Weronika Puchalska, Paul Scholz, Kaitlyn Shin, Jurjen J. Sluman, Matteo Trudu, David Williams-Baldwin, Jun Yang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We report the milliarcsecond localization of a high (∼1379 pc cm−3) dispersion measure (DM) repeating fast radio burst (FRB), FRB 20190417A. Combining European VLBI Network detections of five repeat bursts, we confirm the FRB’s host to be a low-metallicity, star-forming dwarf galaxy at z = 0.12817, similar to the hosts of FRB 20121102A, FRB 20190520B, and FRB 20240114A. We also confirm that it is associated with a previously reported persistent radio source (PRS), which is compact on milliarcsecond scales. Visibility-domain model fitting constrains the transverse physical size of the PRS to <23 pc and yields an integrated flux density of 190 ± 40 μJy at 1.4 GHz. Though we do not find significant evidence for DM evolution, FRB 20190417A exhibits a time-variable rotation measure (RM) ranging between +3958 ± 11 rad m−2 and +5061 ± 24 rad m−2 over a 50-day period. We find no evidence for intervening galaxy clusters in the FRB’s line of sight and place a conservative lower limit on the rest-frame host DM contribution of 1228 pc cm−3 (90% confidence)—the largest known for any FRB so far. This system strengthens the emerging picture of a rare subclass of repeating FRBs with large and variable RMs, above-average host DMs, and luminous PRS counterparts in metal-poor dwarf galaxies. Our results suggest that these systems are the result of environmental selection, or a distinct engine for FRB emission.
Original languageEnglish
Article numberL16
Number of pages19
JournalAstrophysical Journal Letters
Volume996
Issue number1
Early online date30 Dec 2025
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2026

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