We have received a new strange signal across the chasm between time and space.
This is a repeating pattern fast radio burst source detected last year was recorded spitting out a whopping 1,863 bursts over 82 hours, amid a total of 91 hours of observation.
Scientists were able to use this hyperactive behavior to their advantage. Not only should you identify the galaxy hosting the source and its distance to us, but also the source itself.
Name the object FRB20201124A was detected using the Five-hundred meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope, FAST in China. It was described in a paper by Heng Xu, an astronomer at Peking University in China.
So far most evidence points to a magnetar – a neutron star with extraordinarily strong magnetic fields – as a source of FRB emissions like this.
If FRB20201124A is indeed one of these cosmic beasts wild, it looks like an unusual specimen.
“These observations led us back to the drawing boards,” says astrophysicist Bing ZhangUniversity of Nevada Las Vegas
“FRBs are far more mysterious than we imagined,” says Dr. Judith. These objects require further investigation by multi-wavelength observational programs.
Fast radio burstsSince their discovery 15 years ago, they have been a puzzle to astronomers. Archival data back to 2001 shows that they are a spike of extremely powerful radio emission that lasts just a blink of an eye.
Many others have since been discovered: radio waves that are milliseconds in duration and discharging as much as 500 million Suns per second.
The majority of the recorded eruptions have occurred once. This makes them difficult to understand and study. Scientists have managed to trace a small number of them back to host galaxies, but only a handful have been found repeating.
In 2020, there was a breakthrough. The first fast radio burst occurred in 2020. The Milky Way – leading astrophysicists to trace the phenomenon to magnetar activity.
This FRB 20201124A is an example of a rare repeater. FRB 20201124A gave astronomers the largest collection of fast radio-burst data with Polarization in less time than any other FRB source.
Polarization refers the way light waves are oriented in three-dimensional space. Scientists can learn more about the environment that the light traveled through by studying how the orientation has changed since it left its source. For example, strong magnetic environments can be characterized by strong polarization.
Astronomers inferred that the source was a magnetar based on the vast amount of data provided by FRB 20201124A.
However, there was something more. The change in polarization over time indicated that both the magnetic field strength as well as the density of the magnetar particles were changing.
“I think of it as filming a movie about the surrounding of an FRB Source, and our film revealed a complex magnetic environment that is dynamically evolving and magnetized in a way that has never been imagined before.” Zhang explains.
“A magnetar isolated in such an environment is unlikely to survive.” Another possibility is that there might be a binary companion in the vicinity.
The data suggests that this companion could be a hot, bright Be-type star. These stars are frequently found with neutron stars. The evidence supports this conclusion was Separate paperFayin Wang, an astronomer from Nanjing University in China, is leading the group.
However, there was another peculiarity.
Magnetars, a neutron star type, are the collapsed cores and outward pressure of massive stars.
These stars are able to burn their fuel quickly and have a short life span. They then explode in supernovae, releasing their outer material as their core collapses.
Their short lives make it unlikely that they will be found in areas where star formation is still taking place. Stars live a brief life, then die. More stars are born from these clouds. It’s a wonderful cosmic circle of life.
FRB 20201124A, however, was discovered in a galaxy that looked a lot like our Milky Way. There isn’t much star formation at home so there shouldn’t be any stars nearby our strange new FRB friend.
FRB 20201124A FRBs are not the only sourceHowever, it is possible to find this galaxy in a galaxy with little star formation.
There is a growing number of FRB magnetars that we don’t know enough about.
However, the source’s description means we now have a new area to look for answers. Wang and his coworkers suggest that neutron star Be star binaries may be the best place to search for fast radio burst signals.
These papers have been published in Nature Nature Communications.
