8 billion-year-old radio signal reaching Earth, fast radio explosions are common events in the universe

Astronomers have detected a mysterious burst of radio waves that took 8 billion years to reach Earth. The Fast Radio Burst is one of the most distant and energetic explosions ever observed. Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, are intense, millisecond-long bursts of radio waves of unknown origin, according to information obtained by CNN.

The first FRB was discovered in 2007 and since then, hundreds of such quick, cosmic flashes coming from distant points in the universe have been detected.

The burst, named FRB 20220610A, lasted less than a millisecond, but in that fraction of a second, it released emissions equivalent to the energetic output of our Sun over the course of 30 years, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science.

Many FRBs emit super bright radio waves lasting only a few milliseconds before disappearing, making fast radio bursts difficult to observe.

Radio telescopes have helped astronomers detect these quick cosmic flashes, including the ASKAP series of radio telescopes located in the Wajari Yamaji Country in Western Australia.

Astronomers used ASKAP to detect an FRB in June 2022 and determine where it originated.

"Using ASKAP's array of (radio) dishes, we were able to determine exactly where the burst came from," Dr. Stuart Ryder, an astronomer at Macquarie University in Australia and co-author of the study, said in a statement.

We then used the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile to search for the source galaxy. After this, we discovered that the older one is much (farther) away than any other FRB source found so far and is probably within a small group of merging galaxies.

The research team detected the explosion in what appears to be a group of two or three galaxies that are in the process of merging, interacting, and forming new stars.

This finding is consistent with current theories that suggest that fast radio bursts may come from magnetars, or highly energetic objects that result from exploding stars.

Scientists believe that fast radio bursts may be a unique method that can be used to "weigh" the universe by measuring the unknown amount of matter that remains between galaxies.

Study co-author Ryan Shannon, a professor at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia, said in a statement that if we calculate the amount of ordinary matter in the universe – the atoms of which we are all made – we find that to be what we are today. More than half of it is missing.

He said we think the missing matter is hidden in the space between galaxies, but it may be so hot and diffuse that it is impossible to see using normal techniques.

So far, the results of existing methods used to estimate the mass of the universe do not agree with each other, meaning that the entire scope of the universe is not covered.

Fast radio bursts sense this ionized material, Shannon said.

Even in almost completely empty space, they can 'see' all the electrons and this allows us to measure how much stuff there is between galaxies.

According to information obtained by CNN, this method of using fast radio bursts to detect missing matter was demonstrated in 2020 by the late Australian astronomer Jean-Pierre McCart.

J-P showed that the faster the radio burst (the farther away) it occurs, the more diffuse gas is exposed between galaxies. This is now known as the McCarthy relationship, Ryder said.

Shannon said, that although we still do not know what causes these large bursts of energy, the paper confirms that fast radio bursts are common events in the universe and that we can better trace the matter between galaxies and the structure of the universe. Will be able to use them to understand.

Astronomers said they hope future radio telescopes, currently under construction in South Africa and Australia, will be able to detect thousands of fast radio bursts at greater distances.