The Mysterious Fast Radio Bursts Really Come From The Outer Space, Scientists Say

First Posted: Apr 05, 2017 03:47 AM EDT

Scientists have detected few mysterious radio bursts known as the fast radio bursts (FRBs) for already 10 years. Now, it is confirmed that these high-energy radio waves come from the outer space.

Manisha Caleb, a Ph.D. candidate at ARC Center of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics (CAASTRO) and Australian National University, Swinburne University of Technology, has verified that fast radio bursts that astronomers have pursued for 10 years truly come from the outer space. Ms. Caleb and other colleagues identified three of these fast radio bursts (FRBs) using the Molonglo radio telescope 40 km from Canberra, according to Phys.org.

CAASTRO PhD student Manisha Caleb and her team confirm origins of mysterious fast radio bursts || https://t.co/XYtxIjmnby pic.twitter.com/gmb2Y50wCd

— CAASTRO (@caastro_arc) April 3, 2017

A fast radio burst is an astrophysical occurrence that is demonstrated as a transient radio pulse for only a few milliseconds. It was recorded by the date signal, as "FRB YYMMDD." This is about a billion times more luminous than anything in the Milky Way galaxy and could be traveling at vast distances. The first radio burst was detected in 2007 and recorded by the Parkes Observatory as FRB 010724. Astronomers from CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, also reported a fast radio burst that had been monitored for the first time live on Jan. 19, 2015.

Meanwhile, the Molonglo telescope, which hunts fast radio bursts, has a vast collecting area of about 18,000 square meters and a large field of view. Anne Green, a professor at the University of Sydney, was motivated to know that the Molonglo telescope is creating significant scientific discoveries by collaborating with Swinburne's expertise in supercomputing.

Ms. Caleb said that figuring out where the bursts come from could aid on understanding what makes them. She further said that only one burst has been associated with a galaxy. She added that they expect Molonglo could identify the other sources of many more bursts.

A question will now arise with the confirmation of the source of the bursts, and that is, what or who is transmitting the radio bursts from the outer space? The answer remains to be seen.