Astrophysicists Confirm Existence of a New Class of Astronomical Phenomenon -- The Fast Radio Burst
Astrophysicists from the Swinburne University of Technology in Australia are part of an international team that has confirmed the existence of a new class of astronomical phenomenon known as the Fast Radio Burst(FRB), the origins of which could bring new insights into the mass and evolution of the Universe.
An FRB is a short milliseconds-duration burst of radio emissions originating billions of light years away, which arrives first at high frequencies and then progressively sweeps to lower frequencies before disappearing completely and not recurring. FRBs are likely caused by some extreme catastrophic event in the distant Universe.
The discovery was made by University of Manchester (UK) student Dan Thornton, using data from the Parkes 64 meter Radio Telescope, which is operated by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO). CSIRO is Australia's National Science Agency and one of the largest and most diverse research agencies in the world.
This work confirms the authenticity of a previously detected signal known as the "Lorimer Burst," a mysterious event that occurred in 2001 and has until now been quite controversial.
This 2001 single burst of radio emission of unknown origin was first analyzed and reported in 2007, but despite other surveys, no new bursts like it were found until this study.
"We have spent the last four years searching for more of these explosive, short-duration radio bursts," Thornton said.
He found four more bursts, removing any doubt that they are real.
"The radio bursts last for just a few milliseconds and the furthest one that we detected was 11 billion light years away," Thornton said.
The findings, taken from a tiny fraction of the sky, also suggest that there should be thousands of these bursts striking the Earth every day.
FRBs are simialar in many ways to Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs), but their association (if any) has not yet been established. Whereas GRBs are associated with supernova explosions, FRBs may result from Magnetars (extreme Magnetic Stars).
Swinburne Pro Vice-Chancellor and Professor Matthew Bailes thinks the most likely source of the bursts are cataclysmic explosions in the Universe's most magnetic neutron stars, otherwise known as Magnetars.
"Magnetars can give off more energy in a millisecond than our Sun does in 300,000 years and are a leading candidate for the bursts," he said.
The researchers are now looking to determine the origin of the bursts. A precise position would enable them to "count" the number of electrons in the Universe, which would be a tremendous breakthrough for cosmology.
The team, from the UK, Germany, Italy, the USA and Australia, has recently upgraded the computer system to be able to detect the bursts in real time, using code developed by Swinburne student Ben Barsdell for his PhD thesis. This will enable immediate follow-up with other instruments to hunt down the precise location and help identify the source of the bursts.
For more information:
http://www.swinburne.edu.au/chancellery/mediacentre/media-centre/news/2013/07/intergalactic-messenger-found
http://www.mpg.de/7440936/cosmic-radio-bursts?filter_order=LT&research_topic=PA-A_PA-AP
http://www.astromart.com/news/news.asp?news_id=725
http://www.astromart.com/news/news.asp?news_id=452
http://www.astromart.com/news/news.asp?news_id=1177
http://www.astromart.com/news/news.asp?news_id=1088
http://www.astromart.com/news/news.asp?news_id=941
http://www.astromart.com/news/news.asp?news_id=909
http://www.astromart.com/news/news.asp?news_id=810
http://www.astromart.com/news/news.asp?news_id=408
http://www.astromart.com/news/news.asp?news_id=391
AstroMart News Archive:
http://www.astromart.com/news/search.asp?search=.+
An FRB is a short milliseconds-duration burst of radio emissions originating billions of light years away, which arrives first at high frequencies and then progressively sweeps to lower frequencies before disappearing completely and not recurring. FRBs are likely caused by some extreme catastrophic event in the distant Universe.
The discovery was made by University of Manchester (UK) student Dan Thornton, using data from the Parkes 64 meter Radio Telescope, which is operated by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO). CSIRO is Australia's National Science Agency and one of the largest and most diverse research agencies in the world.
This work confirms the authenticity of a previously detected signal known as the "Lorimer Burst," a mysterious event that occurred in 2001 and has until now been quite controversial.
This 2001 single burst of radio emission of unknown origin was first analyzed and reported in 2007, but despite other surveys, no new bursts like it were found until this study.
"We have spent the last four years searching for more of these explosive, short-duration radio bursts," Thornton said.
He found four more bursts, removing any doubt that they are real.
"The radio bursts last for just a few milliseconds and the furthest one that we detected was 11 billion light years away," Thornton said.
The findings, taken from a tiny fraction of the sky, also suggest that there should be thousands of these bursts striking the Earth every day.
FRBs are simialar in many ways to Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs), but their association (if any) has not yet been established. Whereas GRBs are associated with supernova explosions, FRBs may result from Magnetars (extreme Magnetic Stars).
Swinburne Pro Vice-Chancellor and Professor Matthew Bailes thinks the most likely source of the bursts are cataclysmic explosions in the Universe's most magnetic neutron stars, otherwise known as Magnetars.
"Magnetars can give off more energy in a millisecond than our Sun does in 300,000 years and are a leading candidate for the bursts," he said.
The researchers are now looking to determine the origin of the bursts. A precise position would enable them to "count" the number of electrons in the Universe, which would be a tremendous breakthrough for cosmology.
The team, from the UK, Germany, Italy, the USA and Australia, has recently upgraded the computer system to be able to detect the bursts in real time, using code developed by Swinburne student Ben Barsdell for his PhD thesis. This will enable immediate follow-up with other instruments to hunt down the precise location and help identify the source of the bursts.
For more information:
http://www.swinburne.edu.au/chancellery/mediacentre/media-centre/news/2013/07/intergalactic-messenger-found
http://www.mpg.de/7440936/cosmic-radio-bursts?filter_order=LT&research_topic=PA-A_PA-AP
http://www.astromart.com/news/news.asp?news_id=725
http://www.astromart.com/news/news.asp?news_id=452
http://www.astromart.com/news/news.asp?news_id=1177
http://www.astromart.com/news/news.asp?news_id=1088
http://www.astromart.com/news/news.asp?news_id=941
http://www.astromart.com/news/news.asp?news_id=909
http://www.astromart.com/news/news.asp?news_id=810
http://www.astromart.com/news/news.asp?news_id=408
http://www.astromart.com/news/news.asp?news_id=391
AstroMart News Archive:
http://www.astromart.com/news/search.asp?search=.+
