Polski
русский
Українська

Astronomers have already discovered 50 mysterious signals sent from deep space to Earth

Dmytro Ivancheskul
Dmytro IvancheskulLife
CHIME radio telescope helps scientists study radio signals from space. Source: CHIME/FRB, Luka Vlajić/Jingchuan Yu, Beijing Planetarium

Scientists have already detected 50 repetitive fast radio bursts (FRBs), which are sent from the depths of space and received by devices on Earth. Only during the last study, 25 such signals were detected at once.

This was reported by scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Kavli Institute and other scientists who worked on a study published in The Astrophysical Journal. The researchers used modern statistical tools, as well as the CHIME (Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment) radio telescope, which scans the entire northern sky every day.

The study suggests that all FRBs have different origins. This is confirmed by the fact that the signals can be repeated over time, with different burst durations and frequency ranges.

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are repetitive bursts of radio waves whose source is a mystery to astronomers. As SciTechDaily writes, it is known that they occur far beyond the borders of our Milky Way galaxy and are likely to be formed from the ashes of dying stars.

Moreover, scientists are aware of two types of radio waves that probably have different sources of origin. Some of them flash only once, while others flash several times.

A large team of astronomers is currently working to decipher the origin and nature of these FRBs. As part of this work, they reported the discovery of 25 new repetitive sources of cosmic radio signals.

The study found that a significant number of these signals are inactive, as they produce less than one flash per week of observations.

CHIME helped scientists by providing huge amounts of data on the "activity" in the sky above us. To make sense of this data, scientists created a new set of statistical tools that helped automate their work.

Subsequently, astronomers were able to observe the same FRB source using different telescopes and study the diversity of the radiation. As explained by a postdoctoral fellow at the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics and one of the authors. Dunlap Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics and one of the authors of the study, Ziggy Pleunis, scientists can now know for sure that "two or more flares coming from similar locations are not just a coincidence."

The researchers also found that radio waves that flashed only once differed from those that flashed multiple times, both in duration and in the range of frequencies emitted.

Pleunis added that FRBs are likely to be formed from the remnants of explosive star deaths, so studying them will allow us to learn more about the material ejected before and during the death of a star and then returned to galaxies that have FRBs.

Earlier, OBOZREVATEL also reported that, according to scientists, an advanced form of alien life may exist in the centre of the Milky Way galaxy, sending signals to Earth.

Subscribe to OBOZREVATEL's Telegram and Viber channels to keep up with the latest news.

Other News