Fast Radio Burst: Scientists detect second mysterious signal coming from space
The discovery of a radio signal from space, the second of its type, raises even more doubts regarding its origins. The signal is estimated to originate from a galaxy roughly 3 billion light-years away. The discovery of FRB 20190520B, a new Fast Radio Burst (FRB), raises several crucial issues concerning the genesis and source of these signals.
The researchers’ findings were published in the scientific journal Nature in a new publication. FRB 20190520B is “co-located with a compact, persistent radio source and linked with a dwarf host galaxy of high specific-star-formation,” according to the report. The signal is thought to be near another unidentified object sending a weaker radio signal. This combination has only been seen once before in another Fast Radio Burst (FRB).
FRBs are powerful yet transient bursts of radio frequency emissions that last milliseconds or less. These are known to send out many repetition radio waves. Scientists, however, have yet to completely comprehend the phenomena, which was initially observed in 2007. According to Space.com, graduate student David Narkevic and his supervisor Duncan Lorimer is credited with discovering FRB.
The FRB 20190520B was discovered in May 2019 by the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) in Guizhou, China, according to the report. Between April 2020 and September 2020, scientists monitored the bursts monthly and discovered roughly 75 of them. The researchers used the Karl G Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) of the US National Science Foundation (NSF), which is a radio astronomy observatory in central New Mexico, to identify FRB 20190520B. Between bursts, the object produces weaker radio waves, according to the researchers.
According to the news release, the researchers have also hypothesised that the FRB 190520 is a “newborn.” This indicates that it is “still surrounded by dense material expelled by the supernova explosion that left behind the neutron star.” The hypothesis is that when the material evaporates, so will the burst signals. However, the researchers noted that several concerns remain unanswered. “The FRB field is moving very fast right now and discoveries are coming out monthly. However, big questions remain, and this object is giving us challenging clues about those questions,” said Sarah Burke-Spolaor, a co-author from West Virginia University, in a statement.
