Fast radio bursts, strong pulses of energy detected in radio-wave frequencies, may be a common phenomenon in the cosmos, but their enigmatic origins are something astronomers are only beginning to understand.
Take, for instance, one such fast radio burst astronomers recently tracked to the distant outskirts of a long-dead galaxy.
Based on what scientists thought they knew about fast radio bursts, referred to in astronomy as FRBs, this type of galaxy should not contain the kind of star long thought to produce such bursts. The surprising source of the repeating burst has baffled astronomers, who haven't considered that regions in which no stars are forming could produce such a
Detailed in two related studies led by researchers at Northwestern University and McGill University, the discovery "shatters assumptions that FRBs solely emanate from regions of active star formation," according to a press release announcing the research findings. The groundbreaking find, the researchers claim, could reshape our understanding of the universe and its most powerful and mysterious signals.
"Just when you think you understand an astrophysical phenomenon, the universe turns around and surprises us,” Wen-fai Fong, an astronomer at Northwestern who was a senior author on both studies, said in a statement. “This ‘dialogue’ with the universe is what makes our field of time-domain astronomy so incredibly thrilling.”
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