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Astronomers in Canada have discovered an unusually intense and fast radio burst inside the Milky Way.
The observations, detailed in the journal Nature on Wednesday, suggest that a considerable number of FRBs are generated by magnetars, a type of neutron star with an extremely strong magnetic field.
The fast radio pulse was first identified in April 2020 by a team of astronomers in the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment.
The CHIME telescope was designed to study a variety of radio wave phenomena in the cosmos, including pulsars. Astronomers also rely on CHIME to detect fast radio bursts.
The most recent observations made with the CHIME telescope revealed an eruption that was 3000 times more intense than the magnetar eruptions measured previously.
“We calculated that such an intense explosion from another galaxy cannot be distinguished from some fast radio bursts, which really gives weight to the theory that magnetars could be located behind at least some FRBs,” study co-author Pragya Chawla, a PhD student in physics at McGill University, said in a news release.
Although some radio wave bursts appear to be singular, the researchers also found evidence that some FRBs produced repeated bursts of radio emissions, leading some astronomers to speculate that magnetars are responsible for a significant percentage of FRBs.
CHIME and other telescopes have previously helped scientists trace the origin of FRBs to various extragalactic sources, but until now, evidence for magnetars producing FRBs in the Milky Way has been scant.
“The magnetar theory was not supported by observations of magnetars in our galaxy, as they turned out to be far less intense than the energy previously released by extragalactic FRBs,” said co-author Ziggy Pleunis, a senior doctoral student in the physics department. of McGill.
As astronomers have gathered more and more observations from FRBs, they have come to realize that fast radio bursts are quite heterogeneous in intensity. Some outbursts are characterized by record energy levels, while others are quite docile. Magnetars exhibit similar levels of variability.
“Given the large energy and activity gaps between the brightest and most active FRB sources and what is observed for magnetars, perhaps younger, more energetic and active magnetars are needed to explain all the FRB observations,” said the co-author. by Paul Scholz studio.
Scholz is a researcher at the Dunlap Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Toronto.
Scientists estimate that CHIME is closer to detecting a simultaneous burst of radio and X-rays from a nearby FRB. Such a discovery would confirm a magnetic origin for many FRBs….
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