A Canadian telescope picks up an unusual signal from the universe. The researchers determine that the mysterious signal has a “heartbeat”.
Cambridge – The infinite expanses of the universe are incredibly impressive and beautiful, as the first images from the James Webb space telescope have shown – but researchers are far from understanding everything. A phenomenon that is far from being fully explained are the so-called “fast radio bursts” (FRB for short). The term describes a very short (a few milliseconds long) burst of radio radiation of unknown origin in space. In 2007 the first FRB was discovered, since then hundreds of these fast cosmic flashes have been reported from different corners of the universe. But many questions about the mysterious signals – such as how they arise or where they come from – remain unanswered to this day.
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge are now reporting on a sensational radio burst from a distant galaxy reports fr.de. The mysterious new signal lasted up to three seconds – about 1,000 times longer than an average fast radio burst. Within this time window, the researchers were able to identify another peculiarity: bursts of radio waves repeated every 0.2 seconds in a clear periodic pattern – “similar to a beating heart,” according to a statement from MIT.
Mysterious signal from the universe: “Boom, boom, boom – like a heartbeat”
“It was unusual,” recalls Daniele Michilli, who discovered the signal at the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) in 2019. “Not only was it very long at about three seconds, but there were also these periodic spikes that were remarkably precise and happened in a fraction of a second – boom, boom, boom – like a heartbeat,” the researcher explains his discovery.
Complicatedly named FRB 20191221A, the signal is believed to be the longest-lasting fast radio burst with the clearest periodic pattern yet discovered. The mysterious signal appears to be coming from a galaxy billions of light-years from Earth. What exactly the source of the signal is is a mystery to the researchers. However, they suspect that either a radio pulsar or a magnetar – both types of neutron stars – could be behind it.
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Unknown signal from space: “Magnetar or pulsar on steroids”
“There aren’t many things in the universe that emit strictly periodic signals,” points out Michilli, who led the study of the strange signal. “In our galaxy, for example, we know of radio pulsars and magnetars that rotate and emit a beam of emissions similar to a lighthouse,” the researcher continues, adding: “We think this new signal could be a magnetar or a pulsar on steroids.”
Michilli’s research team hopes to discover further periodic signals from the previously unknown source in order to then use them as a kind of astrophysical clock. The researchers are particularly interested in the frequency of the outbreaks and how they are changing. As the universe is expanding, the signal source moves away from Earth – the researchers could use the changed frequency to measure how fast the universe is expanding.
It was unusual. Not only was it very long at about three seconds, but there were these periodic spikes that were remarkably precise and happened in a fraction of a second – boom, boom, boom – like a heartbeat.
Mysterious “heartbeat” signal from the universe: Incredibly bright and long
The discovery of the unusual fast radio burst was made by Michilli and his team published in the journal Nature. In their study, the researchers show that there are similarities to emissions from radio pulsars and magnetars in our own galaxy, the Milky Way. But there is also a major difference: FRB 20191221A appears to be more than a million times brighter. Michilli theorizes that the bright flashes could have originated from a distant celestial body that is normally less bright but which, for a previously unknown reason, was emitting a series of very bright bursts in a rare three-second window.
The researchers already know a few things about the mysterious signal and its source: “Based on the properties of this new signal, we can say that there is a plasma cloud around this source, which must be extremely turbulent,” explains Michilli. Further bursts of the signal could help better understand the source and neutron stars in general. Michilli summarizes the questions the researchers have: “This discovery raises the question of what could be causing this extreme signal that we have never seen before and how we can use this signal to study the universe.” (tab )
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