(ORDO NEWS) — The strongest radio signal from space was received by the Canadian telescope CHIME. Astronomers have discovered a bright millisecond radio signal, presumably from a galactic magnetar known as SGR 1935 + 2154. The detection of such an extremely intense event is critical to understanding the nature of the origin of fast radio bursts (FRB).
Magnetars are neutron stars with extremely strong magnetic fields, more than a quadrillion times stronger than the Earth’s magnetic field. The decay of magnetic fields in magnetars leads to the emission of high-energy electromagnetic radiation, for example, in the form of x-rays or radio waves.
FRBs are intense bursts of radio emission lasting milliseconds, showing a characteristic dispersion of radio pulsars. The physical nature of these bursts is unknown – astronomers have already considered many options, including radiation from young magnetars in supernova remnants, cosmic strings and signals of other civilizations.
Located at a distance of about 30,000 light-years in the constellation Vulpecula, SGR 1935 + 2154 is a galactic magnetar that is known to exhibit transient radio pulsations. He recently entered a period of unusually intense X-ray flare, and almost immediately a team of astronomers led by Paul Scholz from the University of Toronto (Canada) began to observe this pulsar with the help of CHIME. This led to the discovery of a two-component bright millisecond radio burst from SGR 1935 + 2154 on April 28, 2020.
The detected event consisted of two bursts lasting 0.585 and 0.355 milliseconds, with the second occurring approximately 0.03 seconds after the first. It was found that the dispersion measure of the two components of the gap is about 332.72 pc / cm3.
According to the study, a new radio explosion was identified when SGR 1935 + 2154 was in the expanded active phase, in which hundreds of high-energy bursts were reported. Researchers noted that the surge described in the study is by far the most striking similar event within the Milky Way galaxy.
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