In space detected mysterious repetitive bursts of radio – Focus

The results of observations are described in the latest issue of the journal “Nature”, they inform them also various scientific institutes, including Dutch ASTRON.

All detected so far “quick bursts of radio” (ang. Fast radio bursts – FRBs) were one-offs. In addition, this development is very short, lasting only a few thousandths of a second. That is why most of the hypotheses to explain their reasons indicates the cataclysmic events that destroy the source of such radiation, for example. Supernova explosions or collapsing neutron stars to black holes.

The mysterious pulses type FRB were discovered almost a decade ago. Since the discovery, astronomers searched for repetitive radio emissions version of the FRB. We failed to find any, November 5, 2015 r. To one of the graduate students at McGill University. Paul Scholz reviewing results of observations made using the Arecibo radio telescope – the largest single telescope in the world. New data collected in May and June 2015. Were analyzed using a supercomputer in the McGill High Performance Computing Center and showed some bursts of radio properties compatible with the outbreak of type FRB of 2012. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that a total of 10 new registered bursts of radio waves. Probably they come from a rotating neutron star – so scientists think the team investigating the explosions radio in space.

Repeatability bursts of radio waves is not the only difference between the latest and the former FRB. They also differ in brightness and spectrum. The newly discovered repeatable phenomenon suggests that at least some of these radio pulses may have different origins, and perhaps this is quite a separate subclass.

Based on the result, called the dispersion of radio waves, scientists speculate that the origin of this and other FRB is extragalactic explosions that their sources are in other distant galaxies. When the radio pulse travels through space, it can be distinguished from noise produced by man, studying the effect of interstellar electrons that make radio waves travel more slowly at lower radio frequencies. 10 new explosions FRB, like that of 2012, has measured three times greater dispersion than it should be for the source of the Milky Way.

The hypothesis that repetitive FRB come from a very young extragalactic neutron stars is in contradiction with the results published in “Nature” a week earlier. Other research team suggested in an article week before the FRB bursts are associated with cataclysmic events, e.g.,. Gamma with short flashes that are not able to generate repetitive events. However, both hypotheses can exist side by side, if it turns out that we are dealing with two separate classes of bursts of radio-type FRB.

the outbreak radio from 2012 and 10 new high-speed bursts of radio waves from a source FRB 121,102th On top charts They are shown as a function of the observed bursts of radio-frequency signal and summed across all frequencies.

 Source: ASTRON