Canadian researchers have made an uncanny discovery in space: An object sends signals towards Earth from millions of light years away - and does so regularly.
- Mysterious signals that only last a split second reach Earth
- Some of them come regularly from a distant galaxy
- The phenomenon puzzles researchers worldwide
Kaleden - The enigmatic burst of energy sometimes comes regularly and lasts only a fraction of a second: We are talking about so-called “Fast Radio Bursts” ( FRBs ), in German: “Schnell Radioblitze ”. Scientists understand this to mean an outbreak in the area of radio radiation that lasts only a few milliseconds and - presumably - comes to us from extragalactic distances. This means that the radio flashes come from a region outside the Milky Way . Exactly where is the lightning coming from and how it comes from, science is still completely in the dark.
Radio flashes from space: First FRB received in Australia in August 2001
The first FRB was already received at the Parkes radio telescope in Australia in August 2001, but was only discovered in archive data in 2006. Since then, scientists have been able to observe such radio flashes again and again. Occasionally, these also occurred at regular intervals. Because the phenomenon of radio flashes is extremely rare, the scientists have so far not been able to find out much about it.
Radio flashes with rhythm: a series of signals from space every 16 days
But now Canadian researchers have made a special discovery: a source for radio flashes that adhered to an exact rhythm . The source, identified by the scientists (their name: FRB 180916.J0158 + 65), emitted signals every 16.35 days - over a period of four days. After that there was radio silence for exactly twelve days - before the signals could be received again. The signals were recorded by a radio telescope from the "Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment Fast Radio Burst Project" (CHIME / FRB) at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in Kaleden in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The researchers suspect the source of the signals in a spiral galaxy that is about 500 million light years away from us.
this #FRB - traced to a #spiral #galaxy 500 million light-years away - is the first instance that repeats in a steady cycle. For 4 days, it issues a burst or two every hour, goes silent for 12 days, then repeats.https: //t.co/f7CscL6K9A
- James White (@itsjameswhite) February 10, 2020Mysterious radio signals: There are numerous theories about their origin
So far, there have been numerous theories about the emergence of radio flashes, including these:
- They arise when a black hole evaporates
- They arise as a result of the fusion of two white dwarfs
- It could be a kind of beacon signal from extraterrestrial technology - it could be used for navigation by an unknown species
- The most exciting theory: The signals could serve as propulsion for space ships of extraterrestrials, using a so-called sun sail
New theory: an object as a transmitter that orbits another heavenly body
The theory that the researchers have now developed based on the newly discovered, regular signal assumes that the source is an object that orbits a star or another celestial body . Because then the signals would possibly be interrupted if the other body blocked the source. It is also possible that the source is a celestial body that rotates itself. Why the source sends signals at all is still completely puzzling. However, the rhythmic radio signals are not the only unusual discovery that researchers recently made in space. Up to now, previous knowledge about the universe has been turned upside down by research.
sep
