The stellar population environments that are associated with fast radio burst (FRB) sources provide important insights for developing their progenitor theories. We expand the diversity of known FRB host environments by reporting two FRBs in massive galaxy clusters that were discovered by the Deep Synoptic Array (DSA-110) during its commissioning observations. FRB 20220914A has been localized to a star-forming, late-type galaxy at a redshift of 0.1139 with multiple starbursts at lookback times less than ∼3.5 Gyr in the A2310 galaxy cluster. Although the host galaxy of FRB 20220914A is similar to typical FRB hosts, the FRB 20220509G host stands out as a quiescent, early-type galaxy at a redshift of 0.0894 in the A2311 galaxy cluster. The discovery of FRBs in both late- and early-type galaxies adds to the body of evidence that the FRB sources have multiple formation channels. Therefore, even though FRB hosts are typically star-forming, there must exist formation channels that are consistent with old stellar population in galaxies. The varied star formation histories of the two FRB hosts that we report here indicate a wide delay-time distribution of FRB progenitors. Future work in constraining the FRB delay-time distribution, using the methods that we develop herein, will prove crucial in determining the evolutionary histories of FRB sources.

The hot gas that constitutes the intracluster medium (ICM) has been studied at X-ray and millimeter/submillimeter wavelengths (Sunyaev–Zel’dovich effect) for decades. Fast radio bursts (FRBs) offer an additional method of directly measuring the ICM and gas surrounding clusters via observables such as dispersion measure (DM) and Faraday rotation measure. We report the discovery of two FRB sources detected with the Deep Synoptic Array whose host galaxies belong to massive galaxy clusters. In both cases, the FRBs exhibit excess extragalactic DM, some of which likely originate in the ICM of their respective clusters. FRB 20220914A resides in the galaxy cluster A2310 at z = 0.1125 with a projected offset from the cluster center of 520 ± 50 kpc. The host of a second source, FRB 20220509G, is an elliptical galaxy at z = 0.0894 that belongs to the galaxy cluster A2311 at the projected offset of 870 ± 50 kpc. These sources represent the first time an FRB has been localized to a galaxy cluster. We combine our FRB data with archival X-ray, Sunyaev–Zel'dovich (SZ), and optical observations of these clusters in order to infer properties of the ICM, including a measurement of gas temperature from DM and y SZ of 0.8–3.9 keV. We then compare our results to massive cluster halos from the IllustrisTNG simulation. Finally, we describe how large samples of localized FRBs from future surveys will constrain the ICM, particularly beyond the virial radius of clusters.

We report the detection and interferometric localization of the repeating fast radio burst (FRB) source FRB 20220912A during commissioning observations with the Deep Synoptic Array (DSA-110). Two bursts were detected from FRB 20220912A, one each on 2022 October 18 and 2022 October 25. The best-fit position is (R.A. J2000, decl. J2000) = (23:09:04.9, +48:42:25.4), with a 90% confidence error ellipse with radii ±2″ and ±1″ in R.A. and decl., respectively. The two bursts are polarized, and we find a Faraday rotation measure that is consistent with the low value of +0.6 rad m−2 reported by CHIME/FRB. The DSA-110 localization overlaps with the galaxy PSO J347.2702+48.7066 at a redshift z = 0.0771, which we identify as the likely host. PSO J347.2702+48.7066 has a stellar mass of approximately 1010 M ⊙, modest internal dust extinction, and a star formation rate likely in excess of 0.1 M ⊙ yr−1. The host-galaxy contribution to the dispersion measure is likely ≲50 pc cm−3. The FRB 20220912A source is therefore likely viewed along a tenuous plasma column through the host galaxy.

We present a multiband study of FRB 20180916B, a repeating source with a 16.3 day periodicity. We report the detection of four, one, and seven bursts from observations spanning 3 days using the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (300–500 MHz), the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (400–800 MHz) and the Green Bank Telescope (600–1000 MHz), respectively. We report the first ever detection of the source in the 800–1000 MHz range along with one of the widest instantaneous bandwidth detections (200 MHz) at lower frequencies. We identify 30 μs wide structures in one of the bursts at 800 MHz, making it the lowest frequency detection of such structures for this fast radio burst thus far. There is also a clear indication of high activity of the source at a higher frequency during earlier phases of the activity cycle. We identify a gradual decrease in the rotation measure over two years and no significant variations in the dispersion measure. We derive useful conclusions about progenitor scenarios, energy distribution, emission mechanisms, and variation of the downward drift rate of emission with frequency. Our results reinforce that multiband observations are an effective approach to study repeaters, and even one-off events, to better understand their varying activity and spectral anomalies.