Three fast radio bursts that happened billions of years ago were discovered in telescope data from 2018.
Fast radio bursts are perhaps the most mysterious astrophysical phenomenon of the new century. Their research began just over a decade ago when in 2007, Duncan Lorimer and his colleagues announced the discovery of the first very powerful but short (a few milliseconds) radio burst that came “out of nowhere.”
As it was almost half a century ago with cosmic gamma-ray bursts, the flare was no longer observed in any range of the spectrum. In addition, it was not possible to accurately localize what was associated with.
It took nearly a decade before astrophysicists could confirm the cosmological origin of fast radio bursts, but now, we hear news about newly detected signals every month. The source of these FRBs remains unclear.
Older theories suggested they could come from neutron stars or black holes. In 2020, several studies concluded that certain fast radio bursts originate from magnetars, but this may not be the same for all such signals.
Now, a Chinese team of scientists has reported the most incredible find – three fast radio bursts from the early periods of the Universe. The FRBs were discovered in data from the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) and have been proven to be at least several billion years old.
120,000 Fast Radio Bursts (Alien Signals)
Based on the data obtained by FAST from 2020 alone, scientists suggest that with more focused observations, there may be more than 120,000 FRBS that we could intercept every single day. Can you imagine what scientists could do with such knowledge and what mysteries of the universe may be solved?
The three fast radio bursts were intercepted in October and November 2018, but as with all scientific data, it normally takes years before experts can study it and find the important pieces.
Interestingly, one of these FRBs was captured on the same date (October 17, 2018) as two other FRBs that have already been reported, but to be distinguished, the new discovery has been given its own name FRB 181017.J0036+11.
Based on the scientific data, researchers believe that the three fast radio bursts did not originate from the Milky Way. Scientists spent several hours in follow-up observations, but no additional bursts were detected, unlike other cases when several weaker ones follow up a powerful FRB. There is an option that these FRBs may not have a cosmological origin, but based on their characteristics, scientists believe there is no other explanation.
For now, the origin of these fast radio bursts remains a mystery. Scientists plan to search for more signals in the FAST’s data, hoping that other FRBs may give them the necessary information to locate the source. With the current capabilities of FAST and the use of simulations, the telescope should be able to detect ancient fast radio bursts up to 10 billion years old.
Join the discussion and participate in awesome giveaways in our mobile Telegram group. Join Curiosmos on Telegram Today. t.me/Curiosmos
Sources:
• Niu, C., Li, D., Luo, R., Wang, W., Yao, J., Zhang, B., . . . Zhang, X. (2021, February 21). Crafts for fast radio bursts extending the dispersion-fluence relation with new FRBs detected by fast.
• Yuan, L. (n.d.). FAST Captures Distant Fast Radio Bursts from the Youth of Universe.
