Jakarta –
Not long ago scientists have detected a mysterious cosmic flash across the universe. Scientists call them fast radio bursts or FRBs.
Scientists say the fast radio burst took up to 8 billion years to reach Earth. This radio burst was one of the most energetic and distant events ever observed by scientists.
“We don’t know whether fast radio bursts have occurred in the past,” said Stuart Ryder, an astronomer at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, quoted on the journal page. Science.
What is a Fast Radio Burst?
Fast Radio Bursts or known as FRBs are intense bursts of radio waves that only last a few milliseconds and their origins are still a mystery.
“Radio waves of different frequencies reach telescopes on Earth at slightly different times, allowing scientists to infer the presence of material that is too hot and diffuse to be detected directly by other types of telescopes,” Ryder said.
Launching the page CNN WorldFRBs were first detected in 2007, and since then hundreds of fast cosmic flashes have been detected coming from the farthest corners of the universe.
FRB itself is a confusing phenomenon for scientists because of its inconsistent nature and its origins are like a puzzle. Thanks to the recent boom, this phenomenon has become a major highlight.
Although it only lasts less than a millisecond, this explosion produces the equivalent energy of our sun for 30 years.
How were Fast Radio Bursts Discovered?
In June 2022, Ryder and his colleagues detected an unusually fast radio burst. This explosion was also thought to be a signal from a fast radio which was later named FRB 20220610A.
To observe this phenomenon, scientists need special equipment, especially radio telescopes. One of the instruments that is very important in unraveling the mystery of the FRB is the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescope series in Wajarri Yamaji Country, Western Australia.
In addition, the researchers also used the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile and the WM Keck Observatory in Hawaii to determine the galaxy where the fast radio burst originated.
“Using ASKAP’s (radio) antenna array, we were able to pinpoint where the explosion came from,” explained Ryder.
“Then we used the (European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope) in Chile to search for the source galaxy, and found that it was older and (more) distant than any other FRB source discovered to date and was likely in a small group of galaxies that join,” he added.
The research team even managed to trace this explosion to a group of two or three galaxies that were in the process of merging, interacting and forming new stars.
These findings support the theory that FRBs may originate from magnetars, high-energy objects formed by star explosions.
Then, the signal from the explosion spread very widely. This suggests that FRB 20220610A has had a difficult journey over eight billion years.
The signal is spread over a very long distance from its galaxy, also supporting previous research which states that the farther the distance, the greater the spread of the signal when it reaches Earth.
FRB 20220610A as a tool for “weighing” the universe
Apart from uncovering the mystery of its origins, FRBs also open the door to a deeper understanding of the universe.
Scientists believe that FRBs can be used to measure still undiscovered intergalactic matter. Scientists have long felt that most of the matter in the universe, called dark matter, remains undiscovered.
“If we count the amount of normal matter in the universe – the atoms that make up all of us – we find that more than half of the matter that should exist today is gone,” said study co-author Ryan Shannon, a professor at Swinburne University.
“We think the missing material is hiding in intergalactic space, but the material may be so hot and scattered that it is impossible to see using normal techniques,” he added.
The results of this research are the first step in understanding FRB and solving the mystery surrounding its origins and nature.
Currently, new radio telescopes are being built in South Africa and Australia that will hopefully enable faster detection of thousands of FRBs at greater distances.
“The fact that FRBs are so common is also an amazing thing. It shows how promising this field is, because you’re not just going to do this for 30 explosions. You can do this for 30,000 explosions, create a new map of the structure of the universe, and use that to answer big questions about cosmology,” concluded Shannon.
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2023-10-24 14:00:00
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