Astronomers have discovered the unprecedented behavior of a mysterious repetitive fast radio burst. The study of this phenomenon opens up the understanding of complex cosmic phenomena that have puzzled scientists for many years.
Fast radio bursts are phenomena that last for milliseconds and are characterized by bursts of extremely bright radio radiation. They usually come from outside our Milky Way galaxy and occur only once.
A mysterious radio burst
Scientists at the SETI Institute in California have been observing a “highly active” repeating signal, designated FRB 20220912A, for two months, recording a total of 35 bursts. The observations revealed a special pattern that distinguishes it from previously studied radio bursts.
In contrast to typical recurrent phenomena, where each burst drifts from higher to lower frequencies over time, FRB 20220912A showed an unprecedented drop in the central frequency of the bursts. This unique characteristic, which is transformed into a sound using notes on a xylophone, resembles the effect of a cosmic slide whistle.
Lead author Dr. Sophia Sheikh of the SETI Institute expressed her excitement about the study, saying:
“This work is impressive because it confirms known properties of fast radio bursts and reveals some new ones. We are narrowing the range of sources of such bursts, for example, to extreme objects such as magnetars, but none of the existing models can explain all the properties observed so far.”
Astronomers believe that some fast radio bursts may originate from magnetars, the highly magnetized cores of dead stars, while other theories suggest neutron double star collisions or white dwarf mergers as potential sources.
The study, conducted using the SETI Institute’s Allen Telescope Array (ATA) with 541 hours of observations, aimed to identify patterns in the time intervals between flares. However, no pattern was found, which emphasizes the unpredictable and mysterious nature of these intense radio wave emissions.
Despite the difficulties, this research is a significant step forward in unraveling the mysteries of fast radio bursts, which emit as much energy in a thousandth of a second as our Sun produces in a whole year.
