Again and again a mysterious signal arrives at us from a distant galaxy

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If you are not emotional Astronomy Or you may not have heard of astronomy Faster radio explosions Or to the FRB Faster radio explosions) However, these mysterious phenomena deserve special attention: they are flashes, more precisely the eruptions of radio waves that last a few milliseconds, are very intense and, above all, are emitted by unknown sources. The universe.

It was first discovered by astronomer Duncan Lorimer in 2007 and has been discovered dozens of times by radio telescopes around the world.

According to the science journal ScienceAlertA New study The nature of the FRB source may have been identified.

This source, first detected in 2019 and named “FRB 190520B”, constantly emits explosions of high-speed radio explosions. Astronomers have been able to analyze information about their source in the universe, which has various mechanisms capable of generating these strange waves.

A long time ago, in a distant galaxy …

Most of the time, FRBs come from other galaxies (only one of us has found evidence). Milky Way) And they are very bright, emitting 500 million suns per second.

Also, they are usually diagnosed only once, making them unpredictably difficult to find and study. Only three sources were found more than once.

The signals detected in the Milky Way were called the Dead Star “Magnet”Indicates that at least some FRBs are caused by magnetic fluxes.

Kshitij Agarwal, astronomer At the University of West VirginiaAsked the following question: “Are repeat signals different from signals that are only detected once?”

Observations can be made through a radio telescope as the signal of the FRB 190520B is repeated. Carl G. Janski is the biggest lineup. They reveal intriguing features: the source is located on the outskirts of the oldest dwarf galaxy, about 4 billion light-years away. Also, between the strongest signals, the weakest signals were detected, which suggests that FRBs come from a small and stable radio source.

If you’re a fan of FRBs, you’re familiar with these features: they’s just like any other recurring signal: FRB 121102. This is the first time a dwarf galaxy (3 billion light-years away) has traced its origin from the suburbs, and is associated with a smaller and more stable source.

The discovery of the FRB 190520B is consistent with the scientists’ hypothesis: FRBs can have at least two options. Thus, different eruptions can be emitted by different materials or by the same type of material at different stages of its evolution.