Artist’s impression of the path that fast radio burst FRB 20220610A took between its origin (top left) and Earth in one of the spiral arms of our galaxy.
ESO/M.Kornmesser
Astronomers have discovered the oldest fast radio burst (FRB) ever observed, dating back 8 billion years. Hundreds of strange bursts of radio waves from space have been detected on Earth since their discovery in 2007, but this one is also the most energetic ever observed.
“This explosion contains energy that the sun would produce over 30 years,” he says. ryan shannon at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia. “That’s enough power to microwave a bowl of popcorn about twice the size of the sun.”
Shannon and his colleagues used the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder radio telescope to discover the burst of radiation, named FRB 20220610A, and found that the FRB was 3.5 times more energetic than other detected FRBs. did.
FRBs are thought to come from highly magnetized neutron stars from distant galaxies and typically last only a few seconds. “Most of them are never seen again after they are first discovered,” Shannon says.
Using the Very Large Telescope in Chile to closely observe the spot in the sky where the ejection occurred, researchers discovered a cluster of galaxies that may contain the source of the explosion.
“In other words, “Bursts have been traveling through space for almost 8 billion years,” team members say. stuart rider At Macquarie University, Australia.
Previous record holders traveled for only 5 billion years, so this latest discovery suggests that FRBs have been occurring for at least half the age of the universe, or about 13.7 billion years.
Astronomers study FRBs to build a better picture of the early universe. When these explosions reach Earth, some waves arrive at slightly longer wavelengths than others. This is because on the journey from the source galaxy to us, FRBs interact with intervening matter (mainly free-floating ionized particles such as electrons), slowing some of the waves. and extend the wavelength.
By observing this, astronomers can determine how uniform the matter between galaxies is, Shannon said.
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