An international team led by Chinese astronomers has discovered a new type of rapid radio burst, extremely short but bright flashes in the universe that mysteriously continue to explode about once every 10 to 15 minutes on average, according to a study published in the journal Nature . . The scientists said that this remarkable finding has challenged the conventional understanding of this celestial event and may shed light on the mysteries surrounding the origin and possible evolution of these eruptions, which are capable of releasing as much energy as the sun in one year. within a few milliseconds of a second. The discovery was first made using the five-hundred-meter global radio telescope, the largest single-plate telescope in the world, located in southwest China’s Guizhou Province, during the Commensal Radio Astronomy FAST Survey. Researchers from China, the United States, Canada, Germany, Japan and Australia, along with many observatories around the world, then collaborated to study this unique specimen. Since their discovery in 2007, rapid radio explosions have been a hot topic of discussion in astronomy circles. These events are known to be difficult to detect because many came from outside our galaxy and only exist for a very short time. With the help of extremely sensitive telescopes, scientists have now discovered about 500 FRBs, most of which are isolated facts. But 24 of them, for reasons that remain unknown, can repeat their outbursts during a certain active phase and then take a break before the next active period. “The exciting part of the new rapid radio burst that has been discovered is that it always seems to be active. It does not take breaks like other repetitive FRBs and just keeps going,” said Li Di, chief FAST scientist and leader. scientist of the international team. The persistent rapid radio burst, called FRB 20190520B, was discovered on May 20, 2019, by Niu Chenhui, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. “I find it somewhat romantic that this FRB was discovered on May 20, the unofficial day of love for Chinese Internet users,” Niu said. “In a way, it’s like a letter of love from the universe to the global astronomy community, which fascinates us to marvel and fall in love with what the universe has to offer.” After Niu made the initial discovery, astronomers from the California Institute of Technology and the University of Tokyo collaborated to locate this unique celestial event and study its properties. The source of FRB 20190520B was in a dwarf galaxy about 3.3 billion light-years from Earth. Scientists have discovered that the dwarf galaxy has the most complex electromagnetic environment of all known FRB host galaxies to date. Niu said the FRB 20190520B bears many similarities to the first recurring rapid radio burst discovered, called the FRB20121102A, except that the former appears to have endless exuberance and to be in a more complex local environment. “Could the recently discovered recurring FRB be a younger brother of the former? Can FRBs evolve? These questions are very interesting and can help us uncover more secrets behind these mysterious events,” he said. Scientists have speculated that the sources of FRBs may be remnants of supernova explosions, black holes, or an extremely magnetic and dense stellar object known as a magnetar. However, none of these candidates have been definitively confirmed by scientists yet. Jonathan Katz, a professor of physics at the University of Washington in St. Louis who did not participate in the new study, said the FRB 20190520B has been shown to be submerged in a dense gas cloud and its persistent explosions could be fueled by a huge black hole. hidden nearby that consumes gas at great speed and generates enormous heat in the process. Duncan Lorimer, a professor at the University of West Virginia who discovered the first rapid radio burst, said the latest discovery challenged the conventional view of FRBs and their host environment. Lorimer, who did not participate in the study, said he believed that FRBs could have multiple sources and that as the number of FRBs discovered increased, scientists would be closer to understanding this interesting phenomenon.
