Researchers discovered 19 signals believed to be emanating from deep space, which nearly doubles the total number of known fast radio bursts
Australian researchers have discovered a record breaking number of brief but powerful bursts of radio waves emanating from deep space.
CSIRO radio telescopes in Western Australia detected 19 of the mysterious blasts, which nearly doubles the total number of known fast radio bursts (FRBs).
Among the 19 signals observed were some of the closest and brightest FRBs ever detected, researchers from the Swinburne University of Technology found.
CSIRO radio telescopes (shown in a rendering) in Western Australia detected 19 of the mysterious blasts, which nearly doubles the total number of known fast radio bursts (FRBs)
Fast radio bursts are elusive signals that last just a few milliseconds, and are thought to originate billions of light-years away – but, scientists don’t yet know what causes them.
They also generate an intense blast of energy – enough that it’s almost equivalent to the amount released by the sun over the course of 80 years.
‘We’ve found 20 fast radio bursts in a year, almost doubling the number detected worldwide since they were discovered in 2007,’ Ryan Shannon, lead author of the study, said in a statement.
The scientists say they’ve also proved that the FRBs are coming from the other side of the universe, ‘rather than from our own galactic neighborhood.’
FRBs typically travel for billions of years, occasionally passing through clouds of gas.
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