A 'strange signal' is coming from the Milky Way. What's causing it?

[Judi Lynn]

By David Crookes , All About Space magazine 2 days ago

Space Mysteries: A fast radio burst was detected from within our galaxy for the first time. We may be closer to uncovering its origin.



What's causing the fast radio burst? (Image credit: Getty Images )

On April 28, 2020, two ground-based radio telescopes detected an intense pulse of radio waves. It only lasted a mere millisecond but, for astonished astronomers, it was a major discovery, representing the first time a fast radio burst (FRB) had ever been detected so close to Earth.

Located just 30,000 light-years from our planet, the event was firmly within the Milky Way, and it was, to all intents and purposes, almost impossible to miss. The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) and the Survey for Transient Astronomical Radio Emission 2 (STARE2) certainly had no problems picking it up. "CHIME wasn’t even looking in the right direction and we still saw it loud and clear in our peripheral vision," said Kiyoshi Masui, assistant professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "STARE2 also saw it, and it’s only a set of a few radio antennae literally made out of cake pans."

Until that point, all FRBs had been observed outside our galaxy. "They’ve been billions of light years away, making them a lot harder to study," said doctoral candidate in physics Pragya Chawla from McGill University in Canada. April 2020’s discovery was also notable for being the most energetic radio blast that astronomers have ever recorded in the Milky Way, but what made it most exciting is that scientists are now closer to determining the origin of FRBs than at any point since they were first discovered.

That happened in 2007, when Duncan Lorimer and David Narkevic were studying data taken by the Parkes radio dish in Australia. Discovering an FRB so close to home has been the breakthrough astronomers have wished for ever since. "We can learn more from a source that’s 30,000 light-years away than one that’s a billion or more light-years’ distance," Masui affirms. "We finally have a nearby source to study."

More:
https://www.space.com/strange-signal-from-milky-way?utm_source=Selligent&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=SDC_Newsletter&utm_content=SDC_Newsletter+&utm_term=3403514&m_i=9%2BDW%2BmUYCSd9DbCtCeXhaRXtyqv67SDwI3gogyTbeeNSMYlrN2%2BFNu1LostkdAlh%2BRBygT_VSDrBEZ%2Bo7TpZ5ZTC3Q4XIl3%2B_LHCylT990&lrh=d43f3ce40e3ceae0368b3520fbc367f28c0c5e819c08493f82fed375e81c28a1

[COL Mustard]

1. Aliens Are Getting Closer

If they’re searching for intelligent life, we’re probably okay. They won’t stop here. If they’re looking for a protein source, we may have a problem!

[2naSalit]

10. +1

[COL Mustard]

11. If Aliens Are In Our Neighborhood....

They roll up their windows, lock their doors and keep on going. At least I would, if I was an alien!

[abqtommy]

2. The words "just 30,000 light-years" brought me a chuckle and a smile.

[nattyice]

4. With our technology today, yes.

Two hundred years ago, the notion of traveling from the Old World to the New World in less than a day was equally as ridiculous.

[jaxexpat]

6. Yeah, and pick up a gallon of milk on your way back, okay?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. Thanks Judi! Here is the trimmed URL for you to use

Very interesting post, as is usual with you posts that I look for with interest.

https://www.space.com/strange-signal-from-milky-way

I trimmed off all that identifying info at the question mark (inclusive).

[Joinfortmill]

5. A light year is 5.88 Trillion miles or 9.46 Trillion kilometers - mind boggling

https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/how-far-is-a-light-year/

[Comfortably_Numb]

7. Howdy neighbors. Lock your doors and roll up your windows when you pass earth.

The planet is infested with a nasty, obnoxious, violent species known as magats. So far we haven’t been able to get rid of them.

[mac2766]

8. I'm going to assume that an FBR is a naturally occurring thing

in space.

[AllaN01Bear]

9. if everybody is ready on the dark side of the moon, play the five tones .

[eppur_se_muova]

12. "... a few radio antennae literally made out of cake pans." OK, I have GOTTA look that one up!