Scientists Find 25 Repetitive Radio Explosions From Space

Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) radio telescope (photo: dock. chime)

JAKARTA - Scientists have detected 25 mysterious 'fast radio explosions' from space. This strong radiation explosion was detected by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) radio telescope between 2019 and 2021.

It is currently unknown what produced the prompt radio burst or FRB, but is thought to have originated from a dead star in a distant galaxy.

What makes this new FRB special is that they'repetitive' - some explosions come from the same location in space, according to University of Toronto astronomers.

So far, far more non-repetitive FRBs have been detected than repeated ones, but this latter strain has the potential to provide more information about its origins. This is because scientists can study explosions from one site with different instruments and collect different data.

This new phenomenon found has brought the total number of FRBs known to be 50.

"FRBs are likely produced by remnants of exploding stellar deaths," said study author Dr Ziggy Pleunis, quoted by the Daily Mail.

"By studying the detailed recurring source of the FRB, we can study the environment where the explosion occurred and understand the late stages of stellar life. We can also learn more about the material that was expelled before and during the death of the star, which was then returned to the galaxy where the FRB lived," he added.

The FRB is a peculiar flash of light, registered in the radio band of the electromagnetic spectrum, which appears transiently and randomly from space.

When one FRB exploded, it contained 10 trillion times the annual energy consumption of the world's population.

This flash is so strong that radio telescopes can detect them from a distance of more than four billion light-years.

The non-repetitive FRBs - which only 'explode' once from their location of origin - are much more often detected than the recurring FRB.

This has prompted scientists to speculate that each is produced by something different.

They are also different in other ways; recurring FRBs tend to come from dwarf galaxies, but non-repetitive FRBs come from many different types of galaxies.

Repeatedly FRBs are usually less energetic and do not last during non-repetitive FRBs, and have different frequency ranges.

The new study published in The Astrophysical Journal, shows the discovery of 25 recently detected recurring FRBs between September 30, 2019 and May 1, 2021 - doubling the previously known total.

The researchers reanalyzed all previously known and unclear FRBs with new statistical tools.

This helps confirm whether the burst originated in the same galaxy or not, and thus whether they were iterated FRBs.