Astronomers Record Signal Coming From Deep Space Every 157 Days

A team of astronomers have discovered a new "fast radio burst" (FRB)
signal, Space.com reports - mysterious flashes of millisecond-wave
energy,*coming from distance space, that repeat every 157 days.

The signal, dubbed FRB 121102, flares up for a 90 day period and then
goes silent for another 67 days, as detailed in a paper about the
discovery published Sunday in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal
Astronomical Society.

Since 2007, astronomers have been trying to figure out the origin of
these mysterious pulses. So far, we';ve discovered more than 100 of
them.

About a month ago, scientists recorded the most powerful FRB known to
history. It was so intense, in fact, that it could've been detectable
from another galaxy,*ScienceAlert reported at the time.

This latest repeater is not the first cyclical FRB observed. Back in
January, Cornell University researchers announced they had identified
an FRB source about half a billion light years from Earth that pulses
on a 16-day cycle.

So far, the best explanation we have for these repeating pulses is that
they are put out by magnetars, supercharged neutron stars, wobbling
around their own axis, movement referred to as "precession." Others
suggest the patterns could be caused by a neutron star orbiting a
second star as part of a binary system.

"This is an exciting result as it is only the second system where we
believe we see this modulation in burst activity," Kaustubh Rajwade,
lead author and* postdoctoral researcher at The University of
Manchester, said in a statement.

According to Rajwade, the discovery "could argue against a precessing
neutron star," as the cycle, at 157 days, is far longer than the first
repeater of 16 days.

But FRBs will remain a mystery. "This exciting discovery highlights how
little we know about the origin of FRBs," Duncan Lorimer, associate
dean for research at West Virginia University and co-author of the
study, said in the statement.

"Further observations of a larger number of FRBs will be needed in
order to obtain a clearer picture about these periodic sources and
elucidate their origin," he added.[...]

https://futurism.com/astronomers-rec...every-157-days

--

Eduardo
Art-Culture-Lusophony
www.alt119.net