Observations by the NSF’s Jansky Very Large Array, pictured here, show that a suspected fast radio burst afterglow is actually radio emission from an active galactic nucleus. Credit: NRAO
Last Feb a team of astronomers reported detecting an afterglow from a mysterious event called a fast radio burst, which would pinpoint the precise position of the burst’s origin, a longstanding goal in studies of these mysterious events. These findings were quickly called into question by follow-up observations. New research by Harvard astronomers Peter Williams and Edo Berger shows that the radio emission believed to be an afterglow actually originated from a distant galaxy’s core and was unassociated with the fast radio burst.
“Part of the scientific process is investigating findings to see if they hold...
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