Scientists have always been terrified of fast radio bursts (FRBs) since their first discovery in 2007. These bursts consist of extremely powerful signals from deep space and are located millions of light-years away. They are also said to discharge energy from over 500 million suns. Radio wavelengths are the only way to detect them. Read below to know more about the one just identified by researchers
FRB 20200120E
FRB 20200120E is the closest extragalactic FRB identified to date. It is located in M81, about 11.7 million light-years away. The proximity of FRB 20200120E is even more threatening as it is 40 times closer than the next extragalactic signal. The research for this was published in a log published by the Arxiv. The lead author for this is Navin Sridhar.
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What are FRBs and why are they so dangerous?
In radio astronomy, a fast radio burst (FRB) is a transient radio pulse with a length ranging from a fraction of a millisecond to a few milliseconds, caused by a high-energy astrophysical process that is not yet understood. The FRB rapidly approaching from a globular star cluster, meaning it’s doubtful to suggest it’s a magnetar. It could be a millisecond pulsar or a binary system that produces radio pulses. Magnetars are terrifying objects that are basically neutron stars with an extremely powerful magnetic field, starting at the gigatesla scale. The starquakes on the surface of these FRBs often cause extremely powerful gamma rays.
Credit source: NASA