Astronomers Have Discovered A Radio Burst From Billions Of Light Years Away!

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The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Astronomers have picked up repetitive radio signals from a galaxy billions of light-years from Earth.

Scientists have not been able to pinpoint the exact location of the radio waves yet, but suspect the source could be neutron stars, which are made from collapsed cores of giant stars.

According to MIT, the signal is what’s known as a fast radio burst, or FRB. These massively strong bursts of radio waves usually last for a few milliseconds. What sets this new signal apart is that it lasts for up to three seconds. Deepening the mystery even further, this FRB was intercut with period bursts of radio waves that repeated every 0.2 seconds in a clear pattern – about 1,000 times longer than the average.

The signal, labeled FRB 20191221A, is the longest-lasting FRB ever detected. It also has the clearest periodic pattern ever seen in an FRB, according to MIT.

The discovery now holds the record for the longest burst detected.

Daniele Michilli, a postdoc in MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, said in a statement:

“There are not many things in the universe that emit strictly periodic signals. Examples that we know of in our own galaxy are radio pulsars and magnetars, which rotate and produce a beamed emission similar to a lighthouse.”

Michilli told KSBW, comparing the new signal to a beamed emission on steroids.

“Previously, we were not able to see these neutron stars emitting radio waves from other galaxies because they are not energetic enough.”

“They are not luminous enough. This is the first time where we may have detected a neutron star from so far away.”

More details of this report from Daily Wire:

Scientists believe a neutron star caused the signal as it rotates like a lighthouse and releases radio waves.

Researchers first discovered such bursts 15 years ago. Since then, astronomers have detected hundreds of similar radio flashes across the universe, but the vast majority of them are “one-offs.”

A recent discovery displayed a regular pattern of radio waves randomly bursting for four days and then would repeat every 16 days.

“It was unusual,” Michilli said. “Not only was it very long, lasting about three seconds, but there were periodic peaks that were remarkably precise, emitting every fraction of a second — boom, boom, boom — like a heartbeat.”

Sources: DailyWire, KSBW, MIT

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