The fickle object has been named after its coordinates in the night sky: ASKAP J173608.2-321635. The signals from this new source of radio waves, however, don’t match what astronomers expect from these types of stars. The team initially thought it could be a pulsar – a very dense type of rapidly spinning neutron (dead) star, or a type of star that emits huge solar flares. New lunar samples reveal more recent volcanic activity on the moon Chinese National Space Agency Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center At the time it was the first FRB seen from within the galaxy and showed that magnetars could produce these radio blasts.Chang'e-5 landing site overview, from the perspective of the spacecraft. In 2020, it was discovered that the magnetar SGR 1935+2154 was sending out radio waves consistent with FRBs in addition to X-ray radiation. There are clues that magnetars are behind at least some FRBs. The Wow! Signal lasted for around 72 seconds and at the time caused a stir since it was a strong narrowband signal-a type that astronomers at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) organization had expected an alien signal to look like.īut the signal was never repeated despite astronomers' attempts to find it once again. It was recorded in 1977 by the Big Ear Radio Telescope in Delaware, Ohio, and it surprised one of the astronomers that worked there so much that he circled the signal in a data print-out and wrote "Wow!" next to it, hence the name. Then there is the Wow! Signal, one of the most famous space signals ever detected. ![]() Known astronomical objects would have emitted other radiation like high-energy X-rays at the same time, Newsweek was told. Called ASKAP J173608.2-321635, the signal was detected six times between January and September 2020 and was dubbed "very strange" since it did not emit any other types of radiation other than a radio wave. In September 2021, scientists said they had detected a mysterious radio signal that appeared to have come from the center of the Milky Way. The overall 16-day-ish cycle could give an important clue to the nature of its source, scientists said at the time. Some of them are one-offs while others repeat.Īn FRB called FRB 180916.J0158+65 was discovered in February 2020, appearing several times per day for four days before falling silent for slightly more than 12 days. These are bright radio bursts that last milliseconds and are speculated to come from high-energy astrophysical processes that are not fully understood. There have been numerous examples in recent years.įast radio bursts or FRBs often catch scientists' attention. Unexplained or unusual signals from space may naturally give rise to theories about aliens or other exotic phenomena. Specifically, one that spins comparatively slowly. The team's leading theory is that the source of the strange signal is a magnetar-a type of neutron star with an extremely intense magnetic field. The low-frequency sky, however, is quieter. ![]() Radio signals from space are common occurrences particularly in the high-frequency spectrum due to energetic events like exploding stars. ![]() "It was kind of spooky for an astronomer because there's nothing known in the sky that does that," said Natasha Hurley-Walker, an astrophysicist at Australia's Curtin University node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, in a press release. ![]()
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