An explosion that repeatedly occurs in the vast ocean of space is certainly something of scientific interest. Astronomers have found such a peculiar spot in space, and more precisely, there’s a fast radio burst (FRB) that defies expectations.
LiveScience.com speaks about the phenomenon, and scientists hope to find some answers soon enough. They are willing to find answers using the Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) from China. While some FRBs aren’t repeating their outburst of energy, it’s also not the case for the one known as FRB 121102.
FRB 121102 is located 3 billion light-years away
FRB 121102 also belongs to a dwarf galaxy. FAST surely has a lot of potential, as it’s considered the most sensitive radio telescope in the world. There’s no wonder why it measures about 500 meters.
The FRB in question exploded a record number of times during roughly 60 hours of observations. FRB 121102 exploded over 1,600 times, which means a lot more than all other known FRBs.
Scientists also suspect that FRB 121102 is a magnetar, meaning a type of neutron star. However, all FRB’s could, in fact, be magnetars. According to EarthSky.org, here’s how magnetars could be defined:
A magnetar is an exotic type of neutron star, its defining feature that it has an ultra-powerful magnetic field. The field is about 1,000 times stronger than a normal neutron star and about a trillion times stronger than the Earth’s. Magnetars are, by far, the most magnetic stars in the universe.
However, the nature of FRBs, in general, remains pretty much a mystery. Here’s how Wikipedia describes these cosmic phenomenons:
In radio astronomy, a fast radio burst (FRB) is a transient radio pulse of length ranging from a fraction of a millisecond to a few milliseconds, caused by some high-energy astrophysical process not yet understood.
The new findings were published in Nature.
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