Astronomers have discovered a “strange and persistent” radio signal coming from a galaxy far, far away.
Researchers at MIT say that the signal is the longest-lasting fast radio burst - an “intensely strong burst” of radio waves of unknown origin - with the clearest pattern that has ever been detected. Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, typically last a few milliseconds - but this latest signal lasts for up to three seconds, about 1,000 times longer than average.
Astronomers have dubbed the signal a ‘heartbeat’ due to the clear pattern they detected, with the radio wave bursts repeating every 0.2 seconds. While the source of the signal remains a mystery, experts suggest that it could be coming from a type of neutron star.
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They suspect that a radio pulsar or magnetar could be behind the ‘heartbeat’ - both of which are extremely dense, rapidly spinning collapsed cores of giant stars. The discovery, reported in the journal Nature, was authored by members of the Chime/FRB Collaboration, including MIT researchers.
Daniele Michilli, a postdoc in MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, said of the discovery: “There are not many things in the universe that emit strictly periodic signals.” Michilli added that researchers think the new signal could be a radio pulsar or magnetar “on steroids”.
Michilli said that the signal of a potential fast radio burst was first picked up in December 2019, which immediately caught his attention as he scanned the incoming data. “It was unusual,” he acknowledged.
“Not only was it very long, lasting about three seconds, but there were periodic peaks that were remarkably precise, emitting every fraction of a second - boom, boom, boom - like a heartbeat. This is the first time the signal itself is periodic."
Further study of the signal could be used in important work to help astronomers better understand the universe. The team hopes to pick up more periodic signals from the mystery source to use as an “astrophysical clock” - the frequency of the bursts and how they change as the source moves away from Earth could be used to measure the rate at which the universe is expanding, according to MIT News .
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