Will the ‘origin of the universe’ be revealed? Analysis of radio waves that arrived on Earth after 8 billion years

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American Science magazine: “Similar to the amount of energy emitted by the sun in 30 years.”
Observed through a radio telescope last year… 1/1000th of a second detection
Research author: “Galaxy radio explosion…expectation to explore space materials”

Astronomers have announced the results of their exploration of the detection of a mysterious Fast Radio Burst (FRB) that took 8 billion years to reach Earth. This radio explosion is one of the most distant and energetic explosions ever observed, and interest is growing as to whether it could contribute to revealing the origin of the universe.

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According to CNN on the 19th (local time), this explosion named ‘FRB 20220610A’, which was discovered in June last year, did not last even 1 ms (millisecond, 1/1000th of a second), but at the moment of the explosion, the sun was exposed to light for 30 years. The American science weekly Science magazine announced on this day that a similar amount of energy was emitted. Co-authors of the published research paper include astronomer Dr. Stuart Ryder of Macquarie University in Australia and Professor Ryan Shannon of Swinburne University of Technology in Australia.

◆ Only 1/1000th of a second can be checked… Observation through radio telescope

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Fast Radio Burst (FRB) refers to a radio explosion in milliseconds whose origin is unknown. The first FRB was discovered in 2007, and since then hundreds of these fast flashes have been detected coming from distant points across the universe.

Most FRBs are difficult to observe because they emit very bright radio waves that last for only a few milliseconds before disappearing.

Astronomers have been tracking these fast cosmic flashes (radio bursts) through radio telescopes. The Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), a radio telescope located in the Wazari Yamaji region in western Australia, is one of them. Astronomers used ASKAP in June last year to detect FRBs and determine where they came from.

“By collecting radio waves using ASKAP, we were able to determine exactly where the FRB came from,” said co-author Dr. Stuart Ryder, an astronomer at Macquarie University in Australia. He also said, “We found the source galaxy with the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory in Chile. This galaxy was discovered to be older and more distant than any other FRB galaxy discovered so far. “It is also possible that they are within smaller merging galaxies,” he said.

The team tracked the explosion of a group of two or three galaxies that were in the process of merging, interacting, and forming new stars. This discovery is consistent with current theories that suggest FBRs are created in magnetars, which are neutron stars with very strong magnetic fields, or in objects with increased energy from stellar explosions.

◆ You can find substances in the empty space of the universe.

Scientists believe that the ‘weight’ of the universe can be measured by measuring the material between unknown galaxies through FRB.

“FRBs detect ionized matter,” said Professor Ryan Shannon of Swinburne University of Technology in Australia, one of the study authors. “We can see all the electrons, even in almost completely empty space, and this allows us to determine how much matter there is between galaxies. “We can measure whether it exists,” he said.

“The cause of these massive bursts of energy is still unknown, but the published paper confirms that FRBs are common in the universe and will help us detect intergalactic matter and better understand the structure of the universe,” he said. “I did it,” he said.

Astronomers hope that radio telescopes currently under construction in South Africa and Australia will be able to detect thousands of FBRs at even greater distances.

“I was surprised at how common FRBs are,” Shannon said. “This shows how promising this field is,” he said. There could be 30,000 explosions instead of 30, which could create a new map of the structure of the universe. “We may be able to answer difficult questions about cosmology, which explores the origin, evolution, and fate of the universe,” he said, expressing his anticipation.

Source: Donga

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