A team of researchers has detected the source of several intense radio blasts that were found on Earth. These signals are known as ‘fast radio bursts‘. They are very short, intense, and last less than a second. However, they carry more energy than the total amount of energy emitted by the sun in one whole year.
These mysterious signals were initially discovered in 2007, and have been recorded throughout the years. As the signals are extreme, it has lead to the assumption that various extraterrestrial technology and unknown physical phenomena are behind them.
In this latest study, scientists found out the exact locations of eight such bursts. Five of them were located within the outstretched curvy tentacles of spiral galaxies. Also, the findings from this study helped researchers to narrow down the possible explanations for its cause.
Wen-fai Fong who’s a co-author of the study states that since the exact cause of FRBs is unknown, it’s very important to use context when available. Owing to the fact that spiral arms are signs of the birth of stars, this was a surprise. This offered a major hint that Fast Radio Bursts must be correlated with the formation of stars.
Hubble Space Telescope Was Used To Conduct The Study
Astronomers from a variety of institutions contributed to this study which was conducted using the Hubble Space Telescope. An early version of the study is available on ArXiv.org, and it will be published in The Astrophysical Journal.
Alexandra Mannings, the lead author of the study, stated that the discoveries made by this study are new and exciting. She revealed that the Hubble Space Telescope was able to get the first high-resolution image of an FRB population. She continued:
The study rules out the suggestion that the deaths of the youngest and most massive stars are the reason behind FRBs. The study also suggests that the merging of neutron stars is not the source of the bursts. However, the evidence gathered from the study depicts that the primary theory about FRBs is correct. This theory states that FRBs result from the outbursts from young magnetars or neutron stars with very powerful magnetic fields. Fong further explained:
This new discovery strengthens the connection between FRBs and large, star-forming galaxies, and rules out speculations of the blasts occurring from dwarf galaxies that were hidden by a more massive one.
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