Mysterious radio burst repeats every 16 days

Mysterious radio burst repeats every 16 days

Posted on Tuesday, 11 February, 2020






Could a neutron star be producing the bursts ? Image Credit: Casey Reed - Penn State University
Astronomers have discovered the first known example of a fast radio burst that repeats in a steady cycle.
It's a phenomenon that has managed to defy explanation for years - powerful bursts of radio waves originating from far beyond our own galaxy that, despite lasting mere milliseconds, generate as much energy as the Sun does in an entire day.

Now a team of astrophysicists in Canada have discovered what is thought to be the first example of a fast radio burst (or FRB) that not only repeats, but does so in a steady cycle.

By studying data from the radio telescope used by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment and cross-referencing it against earlier observations of the phenomenon, the scientists were able to determine that this particular FRB repeats on a cycle of 16 days.
 
Situated in a spiral galaxy over 500 million light years away, the source of the bursts could be some sort of celestial object in orbit around a distant star, however it remains unclear how such an object could be producing such high energy bursts so frequently.

While it seems unlikely than an answer will be forthcoming anytime soon, observations using more powerful telescopes in the future could help to finally unravel the mystery behind this phenomenon.

In the meantime, all we can really do is speculate.



https://youtu.be/wQxEwMrJjCg

https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/334469/mysterious-radio-burst-repeats-every-16-days

Thanks to: https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com

First Contact? Something in Space is Sending Earth Signals Like Clockwork, Scientists Don’t Know Why

Posted by Lou on February 11, 2020



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Source
sputniknews.com
Feb 8, 2020
Astronomers from around the world have long been fascinated by the mysterious radio signals bombarding our planet from deep in outer space, with some onlookers linking them to a possible extraterrestrial intelligence.
A new study by an international team of scientists led by astronomers at the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment Fast Radio Burst Project (CHIME/FRB) in British Columbia has discovered that a mystery radio source in a galaxy some 500 million lightyears from our solar system is sending out fast radio bursts like clockwork in 16.35 day cycles, including 1-2 bursts per hour over a four day period and then 12 days of silence before starting up again.

The discovery is important, because out of the 150+ fast radio bursts recorded by Earth-based observatories over the last decade and a half, only ten of them have repeated, and none as steadily as the source discussed in the study. Furthermore, only a handful of them have been tracked back to the galaxy they came from.

The mystery signal, known as FRB 180916.J0158+65 was first discovered in 2017, but has continued repeating steadily, albeit at a rate some 600 times fainter than the first bright flare. In their study, scientists analysed 28 bursts which took place between September 2018 and October 2019, confirming the pattern, and excitedly concluding “that this is the first detected periodicity of any kind in an FRB source.”
The new FRB was tracked down to SDSS J015800.28+264253.0, a star-forming galaxy about 500 million light years from Earth.

“The discovery of a 16.35-day periodicity in a repeating FRB source is an important clue to the nature of this object,” scientists suggested, providing several possible explanations for what may be causing the phenomenon. One possibility is that it is an object orbiting a sun which sends signals out only at a certain interval in its orbit. Alternatively, it could be a signal sent by a binary star system made up of a massive star and super-dense highly magnetized neutron star. Or it could be a stand-alone object caused by rotation or wobbling, such as a highly magnetic neutron star.

And although the scientists don’t mention it, there’s no ruling out that this could be an alien life-form attempting to make contact with other lifeforms in the galaxy. Human scientists have been fascinated with the concept of using radio waves to try to make contact with extraterrestrial intelligence since the 1890s, and countries have built a number of radio telescopes over the past century to listen out for incoming extraterrestrial radio waves.
The study’s authors now plan to continue watching out for the signal-emitting object, looking out for clues regarding its origins. Scans of SDSS J015800.28+264253.0 by X-ray and gamma-ray radiation telescopes may provide further clues as to its identity.

Thanks to Lou at: https://talesfromtheloublog.wordpress.com