{"id":10279,"date":"2015-04-02T23:01:24","date_gmt":"2015-04-03T03:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10279"},"modified":"2015-04-04T18:27:30","modified_gmt":"2015-04-04T22:27:30","slug":"unusual-pattern-found-in-fast-radio-bursts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10279","title":{"rendered":"Unusual pattern found in fast radio bursts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When radio astronomers first detected the regular beat of\u00a0a <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pulsar\" target=\"_blank\">pulsar<\/a>\u00a0in 1967, there was some\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pulsar#Discovery\" target=\"_blank\">initial excitement<\/a>\u00a0that it\u00a0might be a signal from a distant civilization. However, it was soon realized that pulsars were spinning <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Neutron_star\" target=\"_blank\">neutron stars<\/a>, which are the dense remains of supernovae. At the poles of the\u00a0neutron\u00a0star&#8217;s intense magnetic fields, which don&#8217;t have to line up with the rotation axis, particles are accelerated, causing beams of radiation to be emitted.\u00a0Like a rotating light house beam aimed in our direction, we see a regular pulse of energy from the very dense star.<\/p>\n<p>This is something to keep in mind when hearing about patterns seen in\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Fast_radio_burst\" target=\"_d\">fast radio bursts<\/a>, which, as the name implies, are short pulses of high frequency radio waves that last for about a millisecond. They were first detected in 2001 and seen infrequently since. A recent study found an unusual pattern in a group of such pulses:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/mg22630153.600-is-this-et-mystery-of-strange-radio-bursts-from-space.html#.VRytp_nF98E\" target=\"_d\">Is this ET? Mystery of strange radio bursts from space &#8211; New Scientist<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><em>We have detected 10 fast bursts of radio waves (FRBs) coming from space in the past 15 year. The delay between the arrival of the first and last waves of each burst is always close to a multiple of 187.5. No known natural process can explain this.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/FRBplot.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"10280\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?attachment_id=10280\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/FRBplot.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"500,538\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"FRBplot\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/FRBplot.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10280\" src=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/FRBplot.jpg\" alt=\"FRBplot\" width=\"500\" height=\"538\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/FRBplot.jpg 500w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/FRBplot-279x300.jpg 279w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>As with radio pulses, a natural phenomenon of some sort, or just noise from some man-made source, \u00a0will very likely be found to explain these bursts.<\/p>\n<p>More at:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/arxiv.org\/abs\/1503.05245\" target=\"_d\">Discrete steps in dispersion measures of Fast Radio Bursts, M. Hippke et al, arxiv.org<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/dn26813-epic-cosmic-radio-burst-finally-seen-in-real-time.html#.VR3oNfnF98E\" target=\"_d\">Epic cosmic radio burst finally seen in real time &#8211; New Scientist &#8211; Jan.19.15<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Update<\/strong> Apr.4.15: Another item at NS about the signals:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/dn27287-alien-faq-6-questions-about-strange-cosmic-radio-bursts.html#.VSBjbPnF98E\" target=\"_d\">Alien FAQ: 6 questions about strange cosmic radio bursts &#8211; New Scientist<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When radio astronomers first detected the regular beat of\u00a0a pulsar\u00a0in 1967, there was some\u00a0initial excitement\u00a0that it\u00a0might be a signal from a distant civilization. However, it was soon realized that pulsars were spinning neutron stars, which are the dense remains of supernovae. At the poles of the\u00a0neutron\u00a0star&#8217;s intense magnetic fields, which don&#8217;t have to line up &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10279\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Unusual pattern found in fast radio bursts<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-astronomy"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-2FN","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":10914,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=10914","url_meta":{"origin":10279,"position":0},"title":"ESO: Huge gamma-ray bursts linked to super magnetized neutron stars","author":"TopSpacer","date":"July 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A new report from\u00a0ESO\u00a0(European Southern Observatory): Biggest Explosions in the Universe Powered by Strongest Magnets Some long-duration gamma-ray bursts are driven by magnetars Observations from ESO\u2019s La Silla and Paranal Observatories in Chile have for the first time demonstrated a link between a very long-lasting burst of gamma rays and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Astronomy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"This artist\u2019s impression shows a supernova and associated gamma-ray burst driven by a rapidly spinning neutron star with a very strong magnetic field \u2014 an exotic object known as a magnetar. Observations from ESO\u2019s La Silla and Paranal Observatories in Chile have for the first time demonstrated a link between a very long-lasting burst of gamma rays and an unusually bright supernova explosion. The results show that the supernova following the burst GRB 111209A was not driven by radioactive decay, as expected, but was instead powered by the decaying super-strong magnetic fields around a magnetar.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/eso1527a1-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":26394,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=26394","url_meta":{"origin":10279,"position":1},"title":"ESO: Observation of supernova producing compact object (black hole or neutron star)","author":"TopSpacer","date":"January 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A new report from the European Southern Observatory (ESO): Missing link found: Supernovae give rise to black holes or neutron stars Astronomers have found a direct link between the explosive deaths of massive stars and the formation of the most compact and enigmatic objects in the Universe \u2014 black holes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Astronomy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/eso2401a-500x281.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13565,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=13565","url_meta":{"origin":10279,"position":2},"title":"ESO: Hints of first signs of a weird quantum property of empty space","author":"TopSpacer","date":"November 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The latest report from\u00a0ESO\u00a0(European Southern Observatory: First Signs of Weird Quantum Property of Empty Space? VLT observations of neutron star may confirm 80-year-old prediction about the vacuum By studying the light emitted from an extraordinarily dense and strongly magnetised neutron star using ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope, astronomers may have found\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Astronomy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"This artist\u2019s view shows how the light coming from the surface of a strongly magnetic neutron star (left) becomes linearly polarised as it travels through the vacuum of space close to the star on its way to the observer on Earth (right). The polarisation of the observed light in the extremely strong magnetic field suggests that the empty space around the neutron star is subject to a quantum effect known as vacuum birefringence, a prediction of quantum electrodynamics (QED). This effect was predicted in the 1930s but has not been observed before. The magnetic and electric field directions of the light rays are shown by the red and blue lines. Model simulations by\u00a0Roberto Taverna (University of Padua, Italy) and Denis Gonzalez Caniulef (UCL\/MSSL, UK) show how these align along a preferred direction as the light passes through the region around the neutron star. As they become aligned the light becomes polarised, and this polarisation can be detected by sensitive instruments on Earth.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/eso1641a1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15072,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=15072","url_meta":{"origin":10279,"position":3},"title":"Hubble: Source of gravitational wave observed in visible light for the first time","author":"TopSpacer","date":"October 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"An announcement from\u00a0Hubble Space Telescope\u00a0observatory: Hubble observes source of gravitational waves for the first time The NASA\/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has observed for the first time the source of a gravitational wave, created by the merger of two neutron stars. This merger created a kilonova \u2014 an object predicted by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Astronomy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/heic1717a1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":26212,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=26212","url_meta":{"origin":10279,"position":4},"title":"ESO: Observation of the most distant fast radio burst (FRB) to date","author":"TopSpacer","date":"October 19, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"A new report from the European Southern Observatory (ESO): Astronomers detect most distant fast radio burst to date An international team has spotted a remote blast of cosmic radio waves lasting less than a millisecond. This 'fast radio burst' (FRB) is the most distant ever detected. Its source was pinned\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Astronomy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11211,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=11211","url_meta":{"origin":10279,"position":5},"title":"Beyond the solar system: More on Breakthrough Initiative + Smallsat exoplanet finder + Fast radio burst mystery","author":"TopSpacer","date":"August 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Some misc. items on SETI and exoplanets: --- The Planetary Society's Planetary Radio program recently webcast two programs about the\u00a0\u00a0Breakthrough Initiative\u00a0(see earlier post), which plans to spend $10M per year for the next ten years on a search for intelligent life beyond earth. *\u00a0Ann Druyan and the Breakthrough SETI Initiatives\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Astronomy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10279"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10293,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10279\/revisions\/10293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}