Fast Radio Bursts tagged posts

The intensity of FRB 150807 at different radio frequencies or colors — red corresponds to lower frequencies and blue to higher frequencies. The x-axis is time. The fine structure in the burst is the scintillation or twinkling–the rays interfere constructively and destructively differently at different frequencies. This pattern provides insights into the turbulence in plasma towards the burst. Credit: Courtesy of V. Ravi/Caltech

Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, are mysterious flashes of radio waves originating outside our Milky Way galaxy. A team of scientists has now observed the most luminous FRB to date, called FRB 150807...

Penn State University astronomers have discovered that the mysterious “cosmic whistles” known as fast radio bursts can pack a serious punch, in some cases releasing a billion times more energy in gamma-rays than they do in radio waves and rivaling supernovae in their explosive power. The discovery, the first-ever finding of non-radio emission from any fast radio burst, drastically raises the stakes for models of fast radio bursts and is expected to further energize efforts to chase down long-lived counterparts to FRBs using X-ray, optical, and radio telescopes.

FRBs, were first discovered in 2007, and in the years since radio astronomers have detected a few dozen of these events...

Limits on the differences of the γ values for three FRB observations. Credit: Phys. Rev. Lett. 115, 261101 – Published 23 December 2015. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.261101

A new way to test one of the basic principles underlying Einstein’s theory of General Relativity using brief blasts of rare radio signals from space called Fast Radio Bursts (FRB) is 10-100X better than previous testing methods that used gamma-ray bursts. The new method is considered to be a significant tribute to Einstein on the 100th anniversary of his first formulation of the Equivalence Principle, which is a key component of Einstein’s theory of General Relativity...