Researchers have announced that they have discovered a new, unusual radio signal from afar galaxy.
The signal is known as a fast radio burst, or FRB. These signals legumes Radio waves from our own Milky Way galaxy or elsewhere, scientists say.
The first FRB was discovered in 2007. Since then, hundreds of signals have been observed by large telescopes around the world.
Astronomers aren’t sure what causes FRBs. But they theorized that the signals could be generated by neutron stars. A neutron star is thought to form after the gravitational collapse of a larger star that explodes at the end of its life.
The researchers who reported the latest FRB say it’s unusual because the signal lasted longer than other observations. Most FRBs last only a few milliseconds. But the new signal lasted up to three seconds — about 1,000 timers longer — the team said you explain in the statement.
The new FRB was first observed in December 2019 by a radio telescope called the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment, or CHIME. The telescope is located near the city of Caleden in southwestern Canada. A number of Canadian and American universities support the project.
CHIME is designed to observe radio waves emitted by hydrogen gas in distant galaxies. But the telescope’s operators say it’s also good at picking up signals from FRBs.
Scientists believe the signal came from a galaxy several billion light-years away from Earth. A light year is the distance light travels in one year, about nine trillion kilometers.
The newly observed FRB was also unusual because it repeated a continuous pattern, the researchers said pattern, “like a beating heart.” Most FRBs observed in the past generally lasted a few milliseconds before disappearing.
Daniele Michilli a post-doctorate candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I helped lead research at the university’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Studies. He says there isn’t much in the universe that emits the “periodic signals” observed by the telescope.
This led the team to believe that the unusual FRB came from two types of neutron star, a pulsar or a magnetar. A pulsar is a rapidly rotating neutron star. Magnetar is a very powerful neutron star magnetic field. “We think this new signal could be a magnetar or a pulsar steroids“said Michilli.
Their result The information about where the signal came from was based on data collected on pulsars and magnetars observed in our own galaxy. However, the team drew attention the unusual FRB appears to be more than a million times brighter than those observed in the Milky Way. Scientists aren’t sure why the FRB would be so bright.
The new signal is the longest-lasting and has a clearer periodic pattern than previously observed FRBs, astronomers said. They hope to capture additional observations of the signal. This could help us better understand where they come from and learn more about the general nature of neutron stars.
“This detection It raises the question of what could cause this extreme signal, which we have not seen before, and how we can use this signal to study the universe,” Micilli said. “Future telescopes promise to discover thousands of FRBs per month, and we may find even more of these periodic signals.”
I’m Bryan Lynn.
Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA English, based on reports from MIT News, Nature
Quiz – Scientists Discover New, Unusual Radio Signal From Galaxy Far Away
Take the Quiz to find out
_______________________________________________________
Words in this Story
galaxy – n. a very large group of stars gathered together in the universe
pulse – n. a brief increase in the amount of electricity, light, or sound
pattern – n. a regular and repetitive way in which something happens
result – n. reasoned judgment
steroids – n. a drug used to treat injuries and used illegally by some athletes to enhance their performance in sports
to discover – v. to discover or notice something
_______________________________________________________
What do you think about this story? We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. How it works:
- 1. Type your comment in the box.
- 2. Below the box you can see four images for social media accounts. They are for Disqus, Facebook, Twitter and Google.
- 3. Click on an image and a box will appear. Enter your social media account login. Or you can create one in the Disqus system. It’s a blue circle with a “D” on it. It’s free.
Every time you return to the Learning English site to post a comment, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Here is our comment policy here.
