Jump to content


Photo

Mysterious radio bursts come from outside our galaxy


  • Please log in to reply
7 replies to this topic

#1 Zinix

Zinix

    YA HOMIE.

  • Members
  • 4,410 posts
  • NNID:zinixzero
  • Fandom:
    The Twilight Zone Fandom

Posted 07 July 2013 - 08:10 PM

*
POPULAR

 

Astronomers using a radiotelescope to perform a survey of a broad patch of the sky have spotted a set of unusual events that last for just a handful of milliseconds. The events don't repeat and aren't accompanied by anything obvious at optical X-ray wavelengths. A careful examination of their properties, however, gives reason to believe that they are likely to occur at great distances from our galaxy, suggesting they are the product of cataclysmic occurrences. Based on the four events detected during their survey of a single patch of the sky, the astronomers suggest that thousands of them may be visible from Earth each day—provided we know where to look.

There's really not a lot to say about the Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) themselves. Four were identified that differ largely in intensity; all of them lasted for less than five milliseconds. If the events were associated with bursts at high-energy wavelengths, then we have hardware in space that should have detected them. Although the radiotelescope used for the survey couldn't provide careful location information, there was nothing out of the ordinary in the area reported at optical wavelengths, either.

If the radio bursts were coming from within our galaxy, then a variety of situations could produce signals with that kind of energy. So, the authors tried to figure out where the bursts are coming from. To do that, they relied on the fact that radiowaves interact with the ionized interstellar gas in a way that alters their spectrum. The more gas they interact with, the larger the effect. Based on the properties of these FRBs, it appears they went through a lot of gas. But their locations indicate that they didn't travel through much of our galaxy's gas, which implies that they must also be affected by some combination of the source galaxy and the intergalactic medium.

If they're that far away, then they must be very energetic. "At cosmological distances, this indicates that they are more luminous than bursts from any known transient radio source," the authors noted, before concluding that this indicates "that the FRBs are likely cataclysmic in nature." But it can't be a rare cataclysm; based on the amount of sky surveyed and the frequency of the FRBs they detected, the authors estimated that as many as 104 might be visible across the entire sky.

So, what's the cataclysm? That's what's hard to explain. The typical radio bursts we've seen are either repetitive (like a pulsar) or accompanied by signs at other wavelengths. These are neither. One option the astronomers considered was a neutron star merger, but those mergers are expected to be very rare and wouldn't produce that much energy. The same problem faces an alternative explanation, which is that it could be the evaporation of a black hole—but it simply doesn't produce enough energy. A supernova with an orbiting neutron star might produce this sort of energy, but those aren't expected to be all that common.

So, for now, the source is a bit of a mystery. Which means astronomers will probably start devising ways to better pin down the locations of these events and do follow-ups with other hardware to try to see precisely where they originate and whether anything interesting is going on in the region. But, as an accompanying perspective notes, it took us decades to pin down the likely source of gamma-ray bursts, so it might not be wise to hope for a quick resolution to the mystery.

 

http://arstechnica.c...ide-our-galaxy/

 

 

Fascinating. This kind of stuff intrigues me, I love reading about it.  


“Any state, any entity, any ideology that fails to recognize the worth, the dignity, the rights of man, that state is obsolete.”— Rod Serling, “The Twilight Zone” The Obsolete Man

Smoke meth. Hail Satan. Watch the yearly Twilight Zone marathons. Talk to dead people. Everyone is gay. Ignore people. Live life to the fullest.


#2 ifrit05

ifrit05

    Red Koopa Troopa

  • Members
  • 58 posts

Posted 07 July 2013 - 08:14 PM

Thanks for the good read, love space related stuff.

ifrit05s.png

Nintendo Network ID: ifrit05

Wii U Deluxe


#3 Zinix

Zinix

    YA HOMIE.

  • Members
  • 4,410 posts
  • NNID:zinixzero
  • Fandom:
    The Twilight Zone Fandom

Posted 07 July 2013 - 08:18 PM

You're welcome. 


“Any state, any entity, any ideology that fails to recognize the worth, the dignity, the rights of man, that state is obsolete.”— Rod Serling, “The Twilight Zone” The Obsolete Man

Smoke meth. Hail Satan. Watch the yearly Twilight Zone marathons. Talk to dead people. Everyone is gay. Ignore people. Live life to the fullest.


#4 Blake

Blake

    Lakitu

  • Banned
  • 2,197 posts

Posted 07 July 2013 - 08:28 PM

They're comi

#5 Cozmo

Cozmo

    Chain Chomp

  • Members
  • 630 posts

Posted 07 July 2013 - 08:46 PM

Been watching a lot of science stuff on TV lately most of it dealing with space with with the shows How the Universe Works Expanded Edition and Through the Wormhole With Morgan Freeman. Amazing shows :)

#6 Soul

Soul

    TYBG

  • Members
  • 3,660 posts
  • Fandom:
    I ENJOY HIP HOP BEATS

Posted 07 July 2013 - 08:49 PM

Very funny because 

https://www.google.com/



#7 Pjsprojects

Pjsprojects

    Chain Chomp

  • Members
  • 681 posts
  • Fandom:
    BF4-pc,GTA-360,Splinter cell-pc

Posted 08 July 2013 - 08:13 AM

Through the Wormhole With Morgan Freeman. Amazing shows :)

Yeah that was pretty good, I have always said that out off all those planets we simply can't be the only one with life! However lets hope things don't turn out like in Falling skies....


Posted Image

Add me on Miiverse !! I'm from England but the world is a lot smaller online!

#8 SoldMyWiiUAndLeftTheForums

SoldMyWiiUAndLeftTheForums

    Pokémon Trainer

  • Members
  • 4,168 posts

Posted 09 July 2013 - 02:26 PM

Thank's for posting Zinix, what an awesome read, I too love space related stuff, Kinda wish we could explore space lot more18976273.jpg






0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users

Anti-Spam Bots!