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The first explosion of cosmic radio waves detected in our galaxy is repeating itself, according to scientists, shedding new light on one of the great mysteries of the universe.
The ultra-bright flashes of energy, more powerful than those emitted by the Sun, come from a young star about 30,000 light-years from Earth.
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Several telescopes detected a cosmic signal from the star in April, and in a new paper, scientists reveal that it repeated twice in the following months.
Known as fast radio bursts (FRBs), these high intensity emissions usually only last for a fraction of a second.
FRBs were first detected in 2007, but nearly all of those detected so far were too far away to clearly understand where they came from.
More than 100 have been discovered so far, but only a handful have repeated, and even fewer in a predictable pattern.
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This makes them notoriously difficult to study, which means their origins have eluded scientists for over a decade.
The researchers say their recently discovered radio rockets are the closest FRBs identified to date and come from an object known as a magnetar.
Magnetars are a type of neutron star with an extremely powerful magnetic field – only a handful of them are thought to be present in the Milky Way.
Physicists have previously speculated that magnetars could produce FRBs, but there was no evidence to prove that this was the case.
The new research, published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy, builds on a groundbreaking paper published earlier this month on the FRB, known as FRB 200428.
That study confirmed that the magneton star SGR 1935 + 2154 signal was a fast radio burst.
This week’s research reveals that two new bursts of varying intensity have been emitted by the star since April, meaning the explosion repeats.
Using four European radio telescopes, researchers led by Chalmers University in Sweden monitored the source of the explosion every night for four weeks after its discovery.
What are FRBs and why are they important?
Here’s what you need to know …
- FRBs, or fast radio bursts, are a mysterious space phenomenon
- They are very fast radio bursts that last only a few milliseconds (or thousandths of a second)
- They are detected as huge energy spikes that change in strength over time
- The first was discovered in 2007, found by looking back through spatial sensing data
- Many FRBs have been found since then
- There is also an FRB source that sends out repeated bursts and no one is quite sure why
- Indeed, scientists have struggled to explain exactly what causes any FRB in the first place
- Theories include rapidly rotating neutron stars, black holes, and even alien life
- FRBs are important simply because they are so baffling to experts
- Unlocking the secrets of what causes them will give us a better understanding of what is happening beyond our galaxy
- And if it turns out that some other form of life is causing these FRBs, it would be a world-changing discovery
On May 24, 2020, the Westerbork Radio Telescope in the Netherlands detected two radio bursts lasting one millisecond from the magnetar, 1.4 seconds apart.
“We clearly saw two explosions, extremely close in time,” said team member Dr Kenzie Nimmo of the University of Amsterdam.
“Like the flash seen from the same source on April 28, this looked just like the fast radio bursts we were seeing from the distant universe, only fainter.
“The two explosions we detected on May 24 were even weaker than that,” he added.
The study provides strong new evidence linking FRBs to magnestars, suggesting that one of the universe’s greatest mysteries is about to be solved.
The fact that the explosions have different intensities suggests that more than one process within stars can produce the cosmic signals.
However, questions still remain about how magnetars produce FRBs.
Dr Kiyoshi Masui, a physicist studying FRB at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States, said earlier this year, “We are trying to piece together the meaning of this.
“We have our eyes open for other magnetars, but the important thing now is to study this single source and dig deeper to see what it tells us about how FRBs are made.”
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Do you think there is intelligent life in the universe? Let us know in the comments …
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