Hubble Finds Weird Home of Farthest Fast Radio Burst (nasa.gov) 27
Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have found a rare event in an oddball place. NASA reports: It's called a fast radio burst (FRB), a fleeting blast of energy that can -- for a few milliseconds -- outshine an entire galaxy. Hundreds of FRBs have been detected over the past few years. They pop off all over the sky like camera flashes at a stadium event, but the sources behind these intense bursts of radiation remain uncertain. This new FRB is particularly weird because it erupted halfway across the universe, making it the farthest and most powerful example detected to date.
And if that's not strange enough, it just got weirder based on the follow-up Hubble observations made after its discovery. The FRB flashed in what seems like an unlikely place: a collection of galaxies that existed when the universe was only 5 billion years old. The large majority of previous FRBs have been found in isolated galaxies. FRB 20220610A was first detected on June 10, 2022, by the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope in Western Australia. The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile confirmed that the FRB came from a distant place. The FRB was four times more energetic than closer FRBs.
"It required Hubble's keen sharpness and sensitivity to pinpoint exactly where the FRB came from," said lead author Alexa Gordon of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. "Without Hubble's imaging, it would still remain a mystery as to whether this was originating from one monolithic galaxy or from some type of interacting system. It's these types of environments -- these weird ones -- that are driving us toward better understanding the mystery of FRBs." Hubble's crisp images suggest this FRB originated in an environment where there may be as many as seven galaxies on a possible path to merging, which would also be very significant, researchers say.
And if that's not strange enough, it just got weirder based on the follow-up Hubble observations made after its discovery. The FRB flashed in what seems like an unlikely place: a collection of galaxies that existed when the universe was only 5 billion years old. The large majority of previous FRBs have been found in isolated galaxies. FRB 20220610A was first detected on June 10, 2022, by the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope in Western Australia. The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile confirmed that the FRB came from a distant place. The FRB was four times more energetic than closer FRBs.
"It required Hubble's keen sharpness and sensitivity to pinpoint exactly where the FRB came from," said lead author Alexa Gordon of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. "Without Hubble's imaging, it would still remain a mystery as to whether this was originating from one monolithic galaxy or from some type of interacting system. It's these types of environments -- these weird ones -- that are driving us toward better understanding the mystery of FRBs." Hubble's crisp images suggest this FRB originated in an environment where there may be as many as seven galaxies on a possible path to merging, which would also be very significant, researchers say.
Don't just sit there (Score:1)
...Webb it! Let the Webb scope have a look. Then again, Webb has to be careful with targeting angle due to meteor impact risk. They try to keep the mirrors facing at right angles to the likely meteor paths. As the Earth moves around the sun, different angles move into the safe aim.
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This is a time-sensitive observation, as whatever is causing these bursts may fade quick.
They should leave a few time windows for surprise observations. If no surprises come, then grab the next one in the queue.
Clarification [Re:Don't just sit there] (Score:1)
> whatever is causing these bursts may fade quick.
Clarification: the signature or aftermath may fade quick, such as ionized gas after-glows.
Re: Clarification [Re:Don't just sit there] (Score:1)
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Since nobody knows the actual cause, those are merely assumptions. Likely assumptions, I will grant, but big discoveries often come from things that don't behave as estimated.
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The fading is on the timescale of minutes to hours. Longer-lived objects like GRBs do have after afterglows into the days and weeks - but it took about 30 years to get quick enough responses to them, and another 25 years later, we're still debating exactly what their sources are.
They do. Depending on observatory, it has a name like "Target Of Opportunity" (T
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They should leave a few time windows for surprise observations. If no surprises come, then grab the next one in the queue.
For other telescopes there might be more options for quick observations; however, JWST is an infrared telescope and being at Lagrange 2, it has a smaller viewing area and spectrum.
They forgot to mention the most interesting part (Score:2)
In a stunning development, scientists were actually able to decode a brief message that was found to be encoded in the signal:
I ordered RADIO SILENCE!! Do you want the entire Cyborg fleet down here on our <EOT>
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Oh please. Everyone knows what the real message is:
Be sure to drink your Ovaltine.
Re:They forgot to mention the most interesting par (Score:5, Funny)
There’s no point in acting surprised about it. All the planning charts and demolition orders have been on display at your local planning department in Alpha Centauri for 50 of your Earth years, so you’ve had plenty of time to lodge any formal complaint and it’s far too late to start making a fuss about it now. What do you mean you’ve never been to Alpha Centauri? Oh, for heaven’s sake, mankind, it’s only four light years away, you know. I’m sorry, but if you can’t be bothered to take an interest in local affairs, that’s your own lookout. Energize the demolition beams.
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"All these worlds are yours, except QUARKLEPLAR. Attempt no landings there."
It wasn't meant for us, we're just eavesdropping about 8 billion years later.
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"All these places are yours, except Mar-a-Lago. Attempt no landings there. Even we don't go there, nasty as hell."
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Of course, given how powerful these bursts are, any message embedded in the burst would effectively wipe out whatever civilization it was being sent to...
Re:They forgot to mention the most interesting par (Score:4, Funny)
Maybe the message is "die in a fire". It would be a hell of a weapon, if it could be aimed.
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Probably wouldn't need to aim it much at all...
The obvious answer (Score:2)
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aliens "solving" Fermi's Paradox.
Universe collapsing (Score:1)
It's nothing, just the collapsing of the universe going on. Don't need to worry, it will be quick.
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God's golfing. Those bursts are where his ball lands.
Poor Alderaan.... (Score:1)
" a collection of galaxies that existed when the universe was only 5 billion years old."
So, a collection of galaxies from a long time ago and far, far away? Poor Alderaan...
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That means we may be able to actually observe the hypothetical Star Wars galaxy in action, since the light reaching us is time-delayed by distance. If it happened in the future far far away, we'd have no shot, at least not in a human life-time.
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OTOH, I don't remember if there were any other planets in the fictional Alderaan system. The name would suggest not.
Seven galaxies colliding when space was inflating? (Score:2)
Inconsistent, much?
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Are you distracting from the paradox like a geologist telling Wegener South America and Africa couldn't have fit together because the actual continental shelf is a different shape? Can you see how social science really is?
repeating "Big Bang" (Score:2)
Everyone knows today that the BigBang never occur, but it was a multiple bang, maybe these FRB are just that, where the cords colide and make a new Bang.