Researchers say there was for the first time evidence that a rapid radio explosion was emitted from the Milky Way.
Since their discovery less than ten years ago, rapid radio explosions (FRBs) have remained a mystery to many. Radio waves are so powerful that they last only a fraction of a second.
Preliminary observations reported in early 2020 show that a rapid radio explosion was detected from a source in our galaxy. Just recently, three studies first published in Nature confirmed this rapid radio explosion from a magnetic star – a kind of neutron star with an amazing magnetic field – in the Milky Way.
Radio waves are so powerful that they last only a fraction of a second.
Specifically, on April 28, 2020, the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Radio Telescope (CHIME) experiment and the Transient Astronomical Radio Emission Survey 2 (STARE2) in the United States detected the FRB. number 200428 from the same region in the sky.
The first of three studies showing that the magnetic field of the galaxy SGR 1935 + 2154, located 30,000 light years from us, was responsible for FRB 200428. The magnetic star released this powerful explosion of energy in less than a millisecond.
The energetic profile of this event matches what we’ve seen from other FRBs, but all of those discovered so far are from outside the Milky Way, so here’s an event. is particularly remarkable.
“We calculated that such an intense explosion from another galaxy would be indistinguishable from certain rapid radio bursts, so it’s really important for the theory to show that magnetic stars can be the source of at least some of the FRBs, ”said study co-author Pragya Chawla, CHIME researcher.
The second study of the STARE2 team, is in agreement with the discovery of CHIME and discovers the mystery of its energy. FRB 200428 is 3,000 times more energetic than all radio pulses seen from the Crab Nebula, holding the record for the most energetic radio transmissions in the Milky Way. At the same time, it is 30 times weaker than the lowest galactic FRB ever discovered.
“There is a great mystery as to what will cause these massive energy blasts that we have not seen from half of the universe so far. This is the first time that we can attach one of these bizarre rapid radio explosions to an astrophysical object, ”said Professor Kiyoshi Masui, head of the analysis group of the CHIME research team on luminosity. . by FRB, explains.
Researchers may be able to relate FRB to the magnetar because it emits X-rays. It would be a surprising coincidence if two events from the same region of the sky are not linked. . The emissions also have a gamma ray component, which adds to the suggestion of a relationship between short gamma beam emissions and FRBs.
In fact, the origins of FRBs are still unclear. The stars have been suggested as a source for other FRBs. The idea that energy burst events like gamma-ray bursts can have an associated rapid radio burst is certainly fascinating in explaining mysterious broadcasts.
In the third study, the team reported dozens of sightings of the same part of the sky using the 500m Spherical Aperture Telescope (FAST) in China.
FAST did not observe the region where the magnetar emitted its FRB, but observed SGR 1935 + 2154 in 29 short gamma-ray bursts. In all of these cases, no rapid radio explosion was detected. This suggests that it is very rare to have rapid radio bursts associated with short bursts of gamma rays.
