Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Astronomers have detected unusual quick, bright flashes of radio waves that originate from unknown sources in space for the first time ever, according to research published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
These flashes, also known as fast radio bursts, typically last only a few milliseconds and had not previously been observed in real time.
“These events are one of the biggest mysteries in the universe,” explained John Mulchaey, the acting director at the Carnegie Observatories. Previously, only seven fast radio bursts had been discovered, all found after the fact through data obtained using the Parkes radio telescope in Eastern Australia and the Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico.
“These bursts were generally discovered weeks or months or even more than a decade after they happened! We’re the first to catch one in real time,” added Emily Petroff, a Ph.D. candidate from Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia and lead author of the study.
To observe the fast radio burst in real time, Petroff and her colleagues used a dozen telescopes located all over the world and in outer space. Each instrument followed up on the original burst observation at different wavelengths.
Measurements from the interaction between the previously detected fast radio burst flashes and the free electrons encountered by signals en route to Earth indicated that these bursts likely originated far beyond our galaxy, the study authors explained.
This idea was controversial, they added, but the data from this new study indicates that the burst actually originated from a distance of up to 5.5 billion light years away. This indicates that the sources of these bursts must be exceptionally bright, and could eventually be used by astronomers as a tool to better measure and understand our universe.
“Together, our observations allowed the team to rule out some of the previously proposed sources for the bursts, including nearby supernovae,” said Mansi Kasliwal, a researcher from the Carnegie Institution involved in the research. “Short gamma-ray bursts are still a possibility, as are distant magnetic neutron stars called magnetars, but not long gamma ray bursts.”
Gamma ray bursts, the researchers explain, are high-energy explosions that form some of the brightest celestial events. They are possibly formed when a neutron star orbiting a black hole is ripped apart.
The astronomers also discovered that the burst was polarized. Based on the orientation of the radio waves, they believe the burst most likely originated near or passed through a magnetic field. This data can be used to help narrow down potential sources in the future.
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