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Can Radio Frequency Interference or the Ionosphere Make Fast Radio Bursts Difficult to Detect?

-- Scott | August 29, 2020

Question:

Light pollution obscures our view of the stars. Is it possible faint details of FRBs are obscured by ionizing radiation in the atmosphere as well as our radio sources?

-- Scott

Answer:

I do not believe that Fast Radio Burst (FRB) measurements, which are made at frequencies above about 400 MHz, are affected by the Earth’s ionosphere, which does affect frequencies below about 100 MHz. As for radio frequency interference (RFI) is a problem at many radio frequencies, including those used for FRB studies, astronomers take a variety of steps to mitigate radio interference with their observations. I think then that it is unlikely that FRBs are significantly obscured by either the Earth’s atmosphere or RFI.

-- Jeff Mangum

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