Scientists announced that they have detected 25 mysterious ‘fast radio bursts’ (FRBs) from space. This led to many ideas, from aliens trying to contact us to looking for a new home for themselves.
These powerful bursts of radiation were picked up by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) radio telescope between 2019 and 2021. What produces fast radio bursts or FRBs is currently unknown, but they are generally thought to be emitted by dying stars in distant galaxies.
What makes new FRBs special is that they repeat, according to University of Toronto astronomers. Judging by the explanation, more than one explosion has come from the same location in space.
So far, many more non-repetitive FRBs have been detected than repetitive ones. But the second type has the potential to reveal more about where they came from.
What is Fast Radio Burst (FRB)?
FRBs, which are not yet fully explained and appear as transient signals from the distant universe, have puzzled researchers for years. These brief flashes are thought to come from black holes or neutron stars, though some even speculate that they may be of alien origin.
FRBs are strange bright flashes of light in the radio band of the electromagnetic spectrum that appear temporary and random from space. When a single FRB explodes, it contains 10 trillion times the annual energy consumption of the entire world’s population. The flares are so strong that radio telescopes can detect them more than four billion light-years away.
The first FRB was detected, or rather “heard”, by radio telescopes in 2001. FRBs were so transient and seemingly random that it took years for astronomers to agree that they were not caused by a glitch in one of the telescope’s instruments.
Co-author of the study, Dr. “The FRBs are likely produced by leftovers from explosive stellar deaths,” Ziggy Pleunis said.
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