B.C.’s CHIME telescope played an integral role in identifying the apparent source of mysterious space phenomenon
This translation has been automatically generated and has not been verified for accuracy.The circle indicates the approximate location of a source of repeating bursts of radio energy coming from somewhere within the spiral arms of a distant galaxy similar to our own. The mysterious bursts were first detected by Canada’s CHIME telescope and the source location pinpointed in collaboration with an international team of radio astronomers.
The discovery is cause for excitement among astronomers, who have been hard pressed to explain what produces the intermittent and short-lived radio pulses that typically last only a few milliseconds while packing more energy than the sun can generate in a day.
The challenge for scientists trying to explain the phenomenon is compounded by the fact that at least a handful of FRBs are known to repeat. This rules out the possibility of a one-off event that completely destroys its source, such as a stellar explosion or a collision of massive celestial objects. In at least some cases, the mechanism behind an FRB must be something that can occur more than once.
Among the deluge of discoveries CHIME has made since astronomers first began publishing results a year ago are several FRBs that are known to repeat. The catch is that CHIME’s view of the sky is too coarse to link those bursts with a single candidate source – just as someone with blurry vision might have trouble identifying who is speaking on a crowded stage.
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