Astronomers have found the source of a deep space radio wave burst for the first time

[Cripplecreek]

After a decade of bewilderment, astronomers have pinpointed the source of a mysterious blast of radio waves coming from deep outside the Milky Way: a dwarf galaxy located 3 billion light years from Earth. It’s a remarkable first in the study of what has been a tremendous astronomical puzzle. Scientists still don’t know what causes these deep space pulses, but locating the galaxy that spawned one brings us closer to figuring out where they come from.

First discovered in 2007, only 18 of these phenomena have ever been detected. They’re called fast radio bursts, or FRBs, because they occur for just milliseconds; their fleeting nature makes it tough to catch one in action, and even tougher to figure out the exact spot in the sky they’re coming from.

But astronomers got lucky when they found a particular burst known as FRB 121102: it is the only one known to repeat, meaning multiple radio bursts have been detected coming from the same location in the sky. That makes it easier for scientists to catch again, Shami Chatterjee, an astronomer at Cornell University who discovered the repetition, tells The Verge. That discovery gave Chatterjee the idea to continually observe FRB 121102 with a huge network of radio telescopes. And sure enough, he and his team were able to get high-resolution images of multiple bursts after many hours of observation, allowing them to track down the source of FRB 121102. Their work is detailed today in three studies published in Nature and The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/4/14158048/deep-space-fast-radio-wave-burst-frb-121101

Really far out.

[bigheadfred]

After a decade of bewilderment, astronomers have pinpointed the source of a mysterious blast of radio waves coming from deep outside the Milky Way: a dwarf galaxy located 3 billion light years from Earth. It’s a remarkable first in the study of what has been a tremendous astronomical puzzle. Scientists still don’t know what causes these deep space pulses, but locating the galaxy that spawned one brings us closer to figuring out where they come from.

First discovered in 2007, only 18 of these phenomena have ever been detected. They’re called fast radio bursts, or FRBs, because they occur for just milliseconds; their fleeting nature makes it tough to catch one in action, and even tougher to figure out the exact spot in the sky they’re coming from.

But astronomers got lucky when they found a particular burst known as FRB 121102: it is the only one known to repeat, meaning multiple radio bursts have been detected coming from the same location in the sky. That makes it easier for scientists to catch again, Shami Chatterjee, an astronomer at Cornell University who discovered the repetition, tells The Verge. That discovery gave Chatterjee the idea to continually observe FRB 121102 with a huge network of radio telescopes. And sure enough, he and his team were able to get high-resolution images of multiple bursts after many hours of observation, allowing them to track down the source of FRB 121102. Their work is detailed today in three studies published in Nature and The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/4/14158048/deep-space-fast-radio-wave-burst-frb-121101

Really far out.

I was fixin' to post this and when I get here there it is. That was fast.

Really far out. (Mystery cosmic radio bursts pinpointed--BBC)

[Gefn]

I was going to post this right now and was debating to post it here or on Quix’s page. I’m so glad it’s here, and from a better paper than I saw it from.

Hurray @Cripplecreek , you are tha man!

And yes, it is an awesome article. Wait. awesome is overused. Remarkable.

[Cripplecreek]

I was going to post this right now and was debating to post it here or on Quix’s page. I’m so glad it’s here, and from a better paper than I saw it from.

Hurray @Cripplecreek , you are tha man!

And yes, it is an awesome article. Wait. awesome is overused. Remarkable.

This is actual sciency stuff.

[Gefn]

This is actual sciency stuff.

My story was from the Sun newspaper. That's why I was questioning it. Don't know how reliable a newspaper is when it has topless girls in page three.

[Wingnut]

I was going to post this right now and was debating to post it here or on Quix’s page. I’m so glad it’s here, and from a better paper than I saw it from.

Hurray @Cripplecreek , you are tha man!

And yes, it is an awesome article. Wait. awesome is overused. Remarkable.

FYI: This is the place/forum for non-fiction.