What Some Astronomers Discovered Behind the Milky Way
The Milky Way galaxy had a secret which got discovered by astronomers not too much time ago. Some mysterious fast radio bursts were hidden outside the galaxy. The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) telescope was used by scientists in order to detect this radio bursts discovering 13 different ones. However, six repeat bursts could also be heard in a galaxy 1.5 billion light years away from the same location. Even though we thought that the Sun is powerful, one of those bursts owns 25 million times more energy than the big star. One other detail that needs to be considered would be that those bursts were collected at the lowest frequencies yet (400MHz to 800MHz).
Taking into consideration the telescope’s state we can’t consider the achievement a no mean feat. The bursts were recorded by scientists during a period of three weeks during the summer of 2018 while the CHIME was not out of its “pre-commissioning phase.” With that being said, it means that there are a lot more bursts that are waiting to be discovered as the study was not living up to its full potential.
The reason that stays behind the existence of these bursts is still unknown. These could be created by rapidly spinning neutron stars that have been strongly magnetized or magnetars. No matter where they originate from, they are still important as they offer valuable insights.
We know one thing for sure, and that is that these bursts are not as special as scientists make they seem. We can be 100 percent sure that more such bursts will be found as this early into the lifespan of CHIME 13 of them were discovered. These bursts might be more common than we had ever thought because we can’t really notice them.
As our second lead editor, Anna C. Mackinno provides guidance on the stories Great Lakes Ledger reporters cover. She has been instrumental in making sure the content on the site is clear and accurate for our readers. If you see a particularly clever title, you can likely thank Anna. Anna received a BA and and MA from Fordham University.
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