Longest Fast Radio Burst Similar to Heartbeat Pattern Detected Billions of Light 5v1718 Years Away From Earth

Labelled as FRB 20191221A, researchers suspect that the burst emanated from either radio pulsar or a magnetar, which are both types of neutron stars. 3mo6r

By Edited by Gadgets 360 Newsdesk | Updated: 15 July 2022 03:08 IST

Longest Fast Radio Burst Similar to Heartbeat Pattern Detected Billions of Light-Years Away From Earth

Photo Credit: CHIME 221n6v

Astronomers now hope to detect more signals from the source

Highlights

The signal originated from a galaxy billions of light-years from Earth
Such FRBs are intense radio wave burst lasting only a few milliseconds
Researchers have not been able to zero in on the source of the signal

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Astronomers have detected a strange burst of radio signals that appeared to be emitting in a pattern similar to a heartbeat. Classified as fast radio burst (FRB), the signal originated from a galaxy billions of light-years from Earth.

Such FRBs are intense radio wave burst lasting a maximum of a few milliseconds. But, astronomers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) observed the signal to be up to three seconds long, making it 1,000 times longer than usual FRBs.

What appeared more fascinating about the find was the pattern of the neutron stars.

“There are not many things in the galaxy are radio pulsars and magnetars, which rotate and produce a beamed emission similar to a lighthouse. And we think this new signal could be a magnetar or pulsar on steroids,” said Daniele Michilli, a postdoctoral scholar at MIT's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research.

As the team analysed the signal pattern, they spotted similarities with the emissions from magnetars and radio pulsars of our own galaxy. While radio pulsars emit beams of radio waves that appear to pulse as the star neutron star rotates, magnetars make similar emissions due to their extreme magnetic field.

Following the discovery, Earth can also help measure the rate at which the universe is expanding.

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