Astronomers have detected a mysterious radio signal from space, which repeats itself every 157 days. Its origin is still unknown.
These signals, called Fast Radio Burst (FRB), which are very fast millisecond waves, would come from a galaxy three billion light years away from the Earth. The discovered FRB transmits radio signals for 90 days, before remaining silent for 67 days, creating a cycle that repeats every 157 days. Experts have yet to determine the source of these repeating waves, reports CBS News.
According to scientists, the periodicity could mean that the signals are linked to the orbit of a large star, a neutron star or a black hole.
“This exciting discovery shows us how little is known about the origins of FRBs,” said Duncan Lorimer, a researcher at the University of West Virginia who studied these signals, at CBS News. “More observations on a large number of FRBs will be necessary in order to have a clearer picture of these periodic sources and their origins,” he continues.
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This is the second time that scientists have discovered FRB signals that repeat themselves on a regular basis. Last February, a study revealed the existence of an object 500 million light years from Earth, which emitted signals every sixteen days.
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