Five new fast radio bursts (FRBs) detected by a radio telescope in Westerbork, the Netherlands, pierced the Triangle galaxy, one of the Milky Way’s neighbors. The discovery came after updating the instruments and was published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
FRBs are mysterious bursts of radio waves whose origin is unknown to astronomers, despite many detections since the first observation in 2007. They last a few milliseconds but release incredibly powerful bursts of energy.
In many cases it is difficult to determine even which galaxy the bursts came from, but astronomers suspect they are emitted by neutron stars. The problem is that there is no way of knowing when and where one of them will happen.
With updates to the Westerbork telescope, scientists were able to detect five new FRBs in images much sharper than those obtained before. In addition, the ARTS supercomputer — also implemented in the upgrade of the Westerbork telescopes — made it possible to increase the sharpness of the images.
If we can’t yet figure out what causes these explosions, scientists can at least use them to learn more about the matter of the universe. It’s just that the bursts travel through the universe crossing several clouds of cosmic dust, which in a way leave their marks on the radio signal of the FRBs.
With updated instrument data and the exact location of the FRBs, astronomers discovered that several of them had pierced the Triangle Galaxy. Not only that, it was also possible to use the bursts to determine the maximum number of invisible atoms in this galaxy, for the first time.
Tracking the atoms and their electrons in galaxies is important for learning more about the universe’s dark matter—a type of substance present in all galaxies that doesn’t interact with light but perhaps leaves its mark on FRBs.
Source: Astronomy & Astrophysicsvia: Astron.nl
