Thirteen fast radio bursts (FRBs) from about 1.5 billion light-years away have been discovered. The deep space radio signals were picked up by a telescope in Canada.
“Knowing that there is another suggests that there could be more out there,” Ingrid Stairs, an astrophysicist from the University of British Columbia (UBC), explained to the BBC. “And with more repeaters and more sources available for study, we may be able to understand these cosmic puzzles – where they’re from and what causes them.” she added.
The telescope that caught the radio signals is located at the CHIME observatory in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. The facility consists of four 100-meter-long antennas that scan the entire northern sky daily.
Scientists have discovered about 60 single FRBs and two that repeat. There could be as many as 1000 FRBs in the sky each day. The source of the signals could be anything from neutron star’s magnetic field to an alien spaceship.
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