An international team of astronomers discovered 1652 radio signals From a mysterious cosmic source, in a distant galaxy, referred to vice October 14. according to study Published in the magazine temper natureThe anonymous source released these signals in just 47 days.
The universe seems to contain more and more mysteries to be unraveled. bursts fast radio (quickly radio burstsAnd FRB) It is one of the most intriguing cosmic phenomena for our astrophysicists. In 2007, The first signs have been revealed Since then, they have left scholars confused about their sources. The FRB 121102, first observed in 2012, impressed the astronomer. An international team of astronomers recorded, during 47 days, 1652 radio bursts coming from this unknown source. The observations were made in China, between August 29 and October 29, 2019, using the Five Hundred Meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST). Previously, the number of bursts mentioned by this Source It was only 349.
bing Zhang, a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, and co-author of the study, explains that « This is the largest sample of bursts from the source FRB collected so far ». Moreover, no sign of periodicity was found, which rules out the hypothesis of a A single source rotates like a pulsar. « There may be more than one mechanism to create FRB from one source, although feedback from more frequent sources is needed to confirm this Zhang writes. According to the professor: « The bursts are likely caused by the magnetic sheaths of the magnets ‘, rare typeneutron stars, cosmic bodies born from the collapse of a star.
FRB 121102 is the first source of repeated radio signals ever discovered. It will come from a dwarf galaxy, in a part of space three billion light-years away from our planet. Even if the source remains a mystery to astronomers, this discovery will allow them to obtain conclusive results.
Source: Vice
