The Search for Sub-Minute Optical Bursts with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory
Guillem Megias Homar (Caltech)
Monday 02/11/2026 @ 11:00, Sala Antonio Sollima (IV piano Battiferro)
The search for sub-minute optical bursts (SMOBs) is a frontier in time-domain astronomy. Observations on these timescales may reveal optical counterparts to GRBs and FRBs, short-duration stellar flares, and potentially new classes of astrophysical transients. Searches in this regime, however, are complicated by a rich foreground of events that can closely mimic astrophysical bursts. Recently, a 2-s event and two 20-s events have been reported in the literature. I will discuss these events, how different astrophysical and foreground populations are expected to appear observationally, and the challenges involved in distinguishing between them. I will then present results on the fast optical foreground from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and discuss observing strategies for separating genuine SMOBs, if they exist, from this foreground, including our coordinated ZTF+Argus search.