Astronomers in the Netherlands have discovered five new fast bursts of radio radiation (FBR) in the universe after upgrading their telescope. The team reported that three bursts of fast radio radiation “spiked” our neighboring Triangular Galaxy.
The fast bursts of radio radiation last only a fraction of a thousandth of a second, but they are some of the brightest and most prominent bursts in the universe, so powerful that they can be seen in telescopes more than four billion light-years away, according to the research announcement. It is not clear exactly where the bursts of radiation came from. Some scientists believe they are released from neutron stars while others speculate they came from alien locations.
“We now have a device with a very wide field of view and very sharp vision,” lead researcher Yuri van Leeuw said in a statement. “And all this is live. It’s new and exciting.” The findings, published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics on Wednesday, were made possible by a new supercomputer and upgraded receivers on their telescope at Westerbork.
“You can’t just go buy the complex electronics you need for this,” said system architect Erik Koestra. “We designed most of the system ourselves, with a large team. This resulted in a state-of-the-art machine, one of the most powerful in the world.” With the latest technology, scientists hope the phenomenon will become increasingly definable, as demonstrated in the new report.
The results also allowed the researchers to ascertain the number of “invisible” electrons in the Triangular Galaxy by observing how the burst of light is distorted as it penetrates space, thus shedding more light on the molecular makeup of the universe.