Survey of Fast Radio Bursts in a Starburst Galaxy

We report on a survey of fast radio bursts (FRBs) in targeted observations of the starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82). The experiment, which uses the 20 m telescope at the Green Bank observatory, aims to test the magnetar theory for the origin of FRBs which postulates that FRBs are created in the magnetosphere of magnetars. This theory gained popularity after an FRB-like burst was localized to a Galactic magnetar, SGR 1935+2154. Similar bursts would easily be detectable, even with a small radio telescope, for sources within M82. As a starburst galaxy, the magnetar percentage in M82 ought to be higher than average. Within the first thirty days of observations, we expect to have observed at least one FRB.