Astronomers Detect Strange Fast Radio Bursts From a Galaxy Billions of Light Years Away

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Astronomers have recently detected a strange burst of radio signals. They are very much similar to a pattern resembling heart beats. This was stated in a report published by the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) News. As per the report, the origin of the signals is believed to have been from  a far away galaxy billions of light years away from Earth. There is a name for such kinds of radio signals. These kinds of radio signal bursts are called FRBs or Fast Radio Bursts.  Typically they last for a few milliseconds however in this case, the FRB signal was reported to be about three seconds long, which makes them much longer than the usual length; about a thousand times, notes the report.

The researchers at MIT have already labelled the signal as FRB 20191221A. They believe that the burst has come from a radio pulsar or in other words a magnetar. They are both different types of neutron stars. They are known to have very dense masses in a relatively small core which is tightly packed. However, it must be noted that confirmation for an exact source for the signal has not yet been declared.

Reports also stated the pattern of the radio signals as very unique. It was akin to the rhythm that is typically formed by a beating heart. The only exception is that it repeated every 0.2 seconds instead of every 0.8 seconds, the rate of a normal human heart beat.

Daniele Michilli, a postdoctoral scholar at MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, claimed that there are not many objects in the known universe that emit this kind of strictly periodic signals. He talked about the examples normally found in our own galaxy. They are radio pulsars and magnetars which rotate and produce an emission of beamed particles that are similar to a lighthouse.

Astronauts are now hopeful to detect even more similar signals from this source. They claim that this could assist them in better understanding the nature of the FRB signals and its causes in a better fashion. This could finally answer whether we are truly alone in the universe or not.