And the Sun is no match for its power.
Orville RedenFRBer
Astronomers have intercepted a mysterious and ancient radio signal that has traveled from the farthest reaches of the cosmos for an astonishing eight billion years, which is more than half the lifespan of the universe, before finally reaching the Earth.
The signal is known as a fast radio burst (FRB), and the astronomers’ findings, published in the journal Science, indicate that this is the most powerful FRB ever observed. In fact, the FRB released the same amount of energy that our Sun emits in 30 years in less than a millisecond.
“That amount of power is enough to microwave a bowl of popcorn about two times the size of the Sun,” said Ryan Shannon, an astrophysicist at the Swinburne University of Technology, in an interview with New Scientist.
The origins of this powerful blast are still uncertain, but the researchers believe that this significant discovery could help unravel the mystery behind FRBs and provide insights into the structure of the universe. “The paper confirms that fast radio bursts are common events in the cosmos and that we will be able to use them to detect matter between galaxies and better understand the structure of the universe,” stated Shannon in a press release.
Neutron Wave
FRBs are intriguing phenomena that were only first detected in 2007, and to date, only around 50 have been observed. This particular FRB, named FRB 20220610A, was discovered in June of last year using the ASKAP radio telescope array in western Australia.
Through further investigation using telescopes in Europe and South America, the researchers determined the origin of the burst. Surprisingly, it was found to be coming from a cluster of merging galaxies where new stars are forming, rather than a single source galaxy as expected.
According to the researchers, this supports the prevailing theory that these bursts originate from neutron stars, which are the dense cores of massive stars that have collapsed.
Cosmic Flashlight
Most intriguingly, this burst aligns with the Macquart relation, which suggests that the distance an FRB originates from corresponds to the amount of diffuse gas between galaxies it reveals along its journey.
“Fast radio bursts can detect this ionized material,” explained Shannon. “Even in space that is nearly empty, they can ‘see’ all the electrons, allowing us to measure the intergalactic matter between galaxies.”
This intergalactic material is critical to account for, as currently, more than half of the expected amount of normal matter in the universe is missing. If this missing matter is concealed between galaxies, FRBs could serve as a tool to detect it. Otherwise, it may require a reevaluation of current cosmological models.
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