Imagine a cosmic flash , brighter than a billion suns , lasting only a millisecond. What could cause such a thing ? Why scientists want to know about it ? Is it dangerous for our blue planet , earth ? The cosmic Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) , intense but fleeting radio waves , remain significant mystery in astronomy, with their origins and mechanisms behind them still being actively researched.
Discovery of Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs)
The Fast radio bursts are commonly referred to as the
"Lorimer bursts" in honour of Duncun Lorimer , who with his team
discovered the Fast Radio Bursts while examining the data of radio pulsar
survey of the Parkes Observatory located in Australia. This was in the year
2007 when he made to discover a new field in astronomy which deals to research
and solve the mystery of these fast radio bursts.
Many FRBs have since been recorded including several that have
been detected repeatedly in seemingly irregular ways. Recently, in the year
2020 the first Milky Way FBR was recorded by the CHIME radio telescope. In the
following year, many astronomers reported the detection of FBRs from the outer
space .
Characteristics of Fast Radio Bursts
Brief and powerful
·
The Fast radio bursts lasts for milliseconds making them
challenging to understand and difficult to detect .
·
The FBRs are immensely powerful and release enormous amount of
energy , often equal to the amount of energy the sun release in about three
days .
·
These radio bursts come from sources located in distant galaxies,
billions of light years away.
Cosmic Origins
·
The exact origins of FBRs still remain a subject of research .
When polarized, it indicates that the source of origin of FBR have extremely
powerful magnetic field.
·
The proposals of its origin range from a rapidly rotating neutron
star to a black hole .
Theories on the cosmic origins
·
Magnetar burst : Magnetars are a type of neutron stars possessing extremely high
magnetic fields. The magnetar burst theory suggests that the fast radio bursts
are caused by the massive bursts of energy released by the magnetars during
intense magnetic connections. These events occur when the magnetar is unstable.
·
Supernovae explosion
: The theory possesses
that the FRBs are caused by the collapse of a massive star into a neutron star
or black hole triggering a Supernovae explosion. Supernovae are incredibly
powerful explosions of massive stars when they are at the ending stages of their
life cycle. The compact object's magnetic field is boosted leading to the
emission of massive radio energy bursts.
·
Advanced Alien Technology : A more speculative theory suggests that the
fast radio bursts are not a natural event ,but rather they are signals from
powerful transmitters that could be used for communication between different
civilizations within or across the galaxy. The technology used to produce the
FBR signals is thought to be far more advanced than any technological
advancements currently on the earth .
Recent discoveries
·
The discovery in 2012 of the first repeating source, FRB
121102, and its localization and characterization in 2017, has
improved the understanding of the source class. It is identified at a galaxy
which is about 3 billion light years away .
·
The first host galaxy identified for a non-repeating burst, FRB
180924, was identified in 2019 and is a much larger and more ordinary galaxy,
nearly the size of the Milky Way.
·
Surprisingly, astronomers detected eight more repeating fast
radio burst signals from distant galaxies in the year 2019.
·
January 2020, astronomers reported the precise location of a
second repeating burst, FRB 180916. One FRB seems to have been in the same
location as a known gamma-ray burst.
The
Future of Fast Radio Bursts
The
study of Fast radio bursts is an evolving field with advancements in
technology. More powerful radio telescopes are constructed , examples include
CHIME i.e. Canadian Hydrogen Intensity
Mapping Experiment and upcoming SKA ( Square kilometres Array) that is
detecting numerous fast radio bursts and providing more precise measurements of
their location .
By
studing the properties and characteristics of FRBs , such as polarization,
duration, frequency etc, scientists can refine the different theories of their
origins.
Whether they are the signals of exotic objects, or radio bursts
of black holes or magnetars, the Fast radio bursts are always affecting our
understanding of the universe.
Written By:
Jinisha Sompura
|