Fast radio bursts are one of the strange signals we detect from space. These extremely bright radio waves are very brief, at a few milliseconds in length, but they travel a long way. Astronomers have found a burst which lasts a long time and has a regular pattern.
The average time for a fast radio burst is three seconds, but the one in question lasted for up to three seconds. Unusual on two fronts, it repeats in 0.2 seconds. The burst was discovered by a group of people using telescopes.
Daniele Michilli, leader of the research, said that it was very long, lasting about three seconds, but there were periodic peaks that were remarkably precise. The signal is periodic for the first time.
Astronomers can use the repeating nature of the signal to theorize. Astronomers think they're caused by a type of star with a powerful magnetic field.
There aren't many things in the universe that emit periodic signals. Radio pulsars and magnetars, which produce a beamed emission similar to a lighthouse, are examples that we know of in our own universe. The signal could be a magnetar or a pulsar.
The signal detected recently is a million times brighter than the ones in our own universe. It could be that the source of this burst is not as bright, but for some reason, it became much brighter. The researchers would like to collect more data from this source.
"This detection raises the question of what could cause this extreme signal that we've never seen before, and how we can use this signal to study the universe." Future telescopes will be able to find thousands of periodic signals a month, and at that point we may find many more of them.
The research is in a journal.
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