Astronomers have discovered an eight-billion-year-old radio signal.
The mysterious “fast radio burst,” identified as FRB 20220610A, lasted just a millisecond, but it released the amount of energy our sun emits in three decades, according to Science magazine.
An FRB is a pulse of radio frequency electromagnetic radiation. The first was discovered in 2007 and hundreds of these cosmic flashes have been detected since then.
Many of these bursts last just microseconds before disappearing, making it difficult to determine where they are coming from.
However, scientists were able to determine “precisely” where FRB 20220610A came from, study co-author Dr. Stuart Ryder, an astronomer at Macquarie University in Australia, said in a statement.
Scientists believe the explosion came from two or three galaxies merging and forming new stars, CNN reported.
One theory among scientists is that these explosions are the result of a star explosion.
Astronomers have discovered an eight-billion-year-old radio signal.
The FRB was initially detected using the Australian SKA Pathfinder, a radio telescope in the state of Western Australia.
Astronomers then used a large telescope in Chile to “search for the source galaxy” and discovered that it was older and more distant than any other FRB located before.
According to CNN, scientists believe FRBs can be used to “weigh” the universe by measuring unaccounted for matter between galaxies.
The mysterious, fast radio burst, identified as FRB 20220610A, only lasted a millisecond, but it emitted more than 30 years of energetic emissions from the sun. Scientists believe the explosion came from two or three galaxies merging and forming new stars. IT/M. Kornmesser
“If we count the amount of normal matter in the universe (the atoms we are made of) we find that more than half of what should be there today is missing,” said co-author Ryan Shannon.
“We think the missing matter is hiding in the space between galaxies, but it may be so hot and diffuse that it is impossible to see it using normal techniques.”
Shannon said FRBs “sense” ionized material and can “see” electrons, allowing scientists to “measure how much matter is between galaxies.”
According to CNN, nearly 50 FRBs have been traced back to their points of origin.
“The fact that FRBs are so common is also surprising,” Shannon said.
“This shows how promising the field can be.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn