In 2007, scientists at the University of West Virginia for the first time identified an unusual intense burst of radio waves from space. Since then, these rapid radio bursts or FRBs have been a mystery to astronomers.
All they knew was that they were FRBs impulses of radio waves and that FRBs come from places in our galaxy, the Milky Way and other galaxies.
Recently, however, researchers identified the FRB, which was first discovered in 2019 with the world’s largest single-plate radio telescope called FAST. Located in Guizhou Province in China. The FRB has been studied more with the VLA telescope in the state of New Mexico in the United States. The FRB is in a very small galaxy that is almost 3 billion light-years from Earth. A light year is the distance that light travels in one year.
Scientists believe that extreme objects can emit these rapid radio bursts. These objects may include unusual star species such as a neutron star. The neutron star is the center of a large star at the end of its life cycle that explodes as a supernova. Another is a magnetar, which is a neutron star with very strong magnetic field. And another possible reason for FRB is a Black hole eating a nearby star.
Casey Lowe is an astronomer at the California Institute of Technology. He co – authored a recent study from 2019 FRB which is published in nature. He said FRBs are fast flashes of radio energy that turn on and off in just milliseconds. They can be observed throughout the universe. Some sites produce a storm of repetitive FRBs, and some erupt only once.
The FRB for 2019 is repeated. Weaker radio signals continue between series, so it always seems to be “on”. Most famous FRB, nearly 500 of them, are not repeated.
Astronomers believe that the FRB described in nature learning is only at the beginning of your life. It is still surrounded by thick material from the explosion of a supernova that created a neutron star. Scientists suspect that the recurrent outbreaks come from younger FRBs.
Di Li is the chief scientist at the FAST telescope and at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. He is a co-author of nature study. He said: “We still call rapid radio outbreaks a space mystery and right. ”
Although FRBs are not yet fully understood, the new recurring FRB may help scientists find the cause of the radio bursts. Years ago, scientists faced a similar mystery with gamma-ray bursts. These events are now thought to be the result of the deaths of many large stars, or of neutron stars or magnetars that combine to form a black hole.
But researchers need to learn a lot more about FRB.
“We know more and more about it phenomenonwhere the springs live, how often they burst … However, we are still chasing this golden measurement, which will give us final an answer to what causes them, “Lo said.
I’m Faith Pirlo.
Will Dunham wrote this article for Reuters. Faith Pirlo adapted it for learning English.
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Words in this story
astronomer -n. a scientist who studies stars, planets and objects in space
pulse – н. a brief increase in the amount of electricity, light or sound
light year – н. the distance that light travels in one year, about 9.5 trillion kilometers
supernova – н. a star that has exploded, greatly increasing its brightness over a period of time
Black hole – n. a very dense area in space where gravitational attraction is so powerful that nothing, not even light, can escape
space – adj. from or related to the universe or outer space
phenomenon – н. an event or interesting event that can be observed and studied and that is not easy to explain or understand
final – adj. clear, secure and unlikely to change
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