CHIME, short for the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment, has picked up a weird signal from deep space. Located in British Columbia, the new radio telescope heard a strange signal through the noise.
The Fast Radio Burst
According to the Astronomer’s Telegram, that signal is called a Fast Radio Burst, or FRB. They are burst of radio emissions that last milliseconds and have been first discovered about ten years ago.
FRBs are not rare, but scientists have no idea about the origin of the signal. All they know is that they come from deep space and they’re so far off that we cannot possibly see what created them.
This FRB is called 180725A, and what makes it so special is its low frequency – 580 Mhz, considering that scientists haven’t detected any FBR under 700 Mhz until now.
Although FRBs are radio signals, astronomers and researchers cannot tap into their information, making them quite mysterious. Some of them believe that they come from very advanced alien civilizations, but that’s just speculation. Another possibility would be that the FRB comes from the activity of a black hole or from two black holes merging together into one.
FRB 121102 Related to FRB 180725A
There was a Fast Radio Burst called FRB 121102, which was heard many times in the past years. Astronomers believe that the FRB 121102 is the same as the FRB 180725A because they come from the same point in space.
Researchers believe that these FRBs are at a distance of 3 billion light-years from Earth. This means that the power to make this radio signal reach our planet is unbelievably huge.
One thing is true: whatever this signal is – be it the result of a star exploding, black holes merging or just a hell of a party from the aliens, scientists will not be able to find its origin with today’s technology.
Doris’s passion for writing started to take shape in college where she was editor-in-chief of the college newspaper. Even though she ended up working in IT for more than 7 years, she’s now back to what he always enjoyed doing. With a true passion for technology, Doris mostly covers tech-related topics.