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Radio burst from within Milky Way may help solve cosmic mystery

  • Posted By
    10Pointer
  • Categories
    Science & Technology
  • Published
    6th Nov, 2020

Astrophysicists have detected a burst of cosmic radio waves within our galaxy for the first time.

Context

  • Astrophysicists have detected a burst of cosmic radio waves within our galaxy for the first time.

Key points

  • The fast radio bursts (FRBs)originates in the formof powerful intense flashes of radio emission that only last a few milliseconds.
  • They are typically extragalactic, meaning they originate outside our galaxy, but a multiple telescopes detected a bright FRB from the same area within our Milky Way.
  • Magnetars, young neutron stars that are the most magnetic objects in the universe, have long been prime suspects in the hunt for the source of these radio bursts.
  • As many as 10,000 FRBs may occur every day.
  • These high-energy surges were only discovered in 2007.
  • Both STARE2 and the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) spotted the flare and attributed it to the magnetar.
  • This region of the sky came into view of the extremely sensitive Five Hundred Meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in China.

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