Seth Szostak/SETI Institute
The unusual frequency of repeated fast radio bursts was detected by SETI Institute’s Allen Telescope Array at Hat Creek Radio Astronomy Observatory in California.
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Fast radio bursts, bright millisecond flashes of radio waves in space, are one of the universe’s most enduring mysteries, but they’ve just gotten a little weirder.
The first fast radio bursts (FRBs) were discovered in 2007, and since then hundreds of these fast, powerful events originating from distant points in space have been detected. According to , a burst can produce the same amount of energy in a thousandth of a second as the sun does in more than a year. Previous research.
But astronomers don’t understand the cause.
Now, scientists have noticed a strange, never-before-seen pattern in a newly discovered repeating fast radio burst called FRB 20220912A. The study, published Wednesday, Royal Astronomical Society Monthly Notices The details of this discovery provide valuable clues to researchers aiming to pinpoint the cause of the phenomenon, while providing new mysteries to unravel.
Astronomers detected the burst using the California-based SETI Institute’s Allen Telescope Array (ATA). The array includes 42 antennas at the Hat Creek Radio Astronomical Observatory in the Cascade Mountains.
The researchers detected 35 high-speed radio bursts from a single source over a two-month period.
Many FRBs emit radio waves that last only a few milliseconds at most before dying out, making fast radio bursts difficult to observe.but Several radio bursts are known to repeat It then releases a tracking burst that astronomers made possible. Track signals back to distant galaxies.
Initially, FRB 20220912A appeared similar to other known “repeaters”, with each detected burst shifting from higher to lower frequencies.
But a closer look at the signals revealed something new. That is, the center frequency of the burst has been significantly lowered, acting like a celestial flute.
This decline became even more pronounced when the researchers used the sounds of a xylophone to convert the signal into sound. The high note corresponds to the beginning of the burst, and the low note acts as the ending note.
The team sought to determine whether there was a pattern within the timing between each burst that was similar to other bursts. Known repeating fast radio bursts. However, the researchers were unable to detect anything about FRB 20220912A, further suggesting that celestial events may be similarly unpredictable.
“This study is exciting because it provides both confirmation of known FRB properties and the discovery of several new properties,” said study lead author Dr. Sophia Sheikh of the National Science Foundation. MPS-Ascend SETI Institute postdoctoral fellow said in a statement.
Researchers say each observation of high-speed radio bursts not only provides insight, but also raises additional questions.
Astronomers suspect that some of the fast radio bursts may originate from the following locations: magnetar, the strongly magnetized core of a dead star. However, other studies suggest that collisions between dense neutron stars called white dwarfs or dead stars may be the cause.
“While we have narrowed down the source of FRBs to extreme objects such as magnetars, no existing model can explain all the properties observed so far,” Sheikh said.
The study was the first to observe fast radio bursts using the Allen Telescope Array, which has been undergoing renovations in recent years. Continued upgrades to the array will allow astronomers to not only track the speed of radio bursts at different frequencies, but also to search for fainter signals.
“This study proves that new telescopes with unique capabilities like ATA can provide new angles on unsolved mysteries in FRB science,” Sheikh said.