NASA Detects Mysterious Radio Waves First Time In Galaxy

The US space agency NASA has claimed to detect mysterious radio waves within the limits of our galaxy. This is the first instance when such a radio burst has been detected. NASA said that it lasted for a millisecond. The phenomenon is called fast radio bursts. The short duration of waves has made it difficult to detect the source. According to NASA, its observatories detected a mix of X-ray and radio signals on April 28. Such signals were never observed before in our galaxy. The X-ray component was detected by several satellites. The radio portion was observed by the CHIME. It is a Canadian radio telescope. It is located in British Columbia.

NASA said that the fast radio burst was first discovered in 2007. Scientists are since then working to locate its source. FRBs are bright bursts of radio waves. They are produced by astronomical objects when magnetic fields are changed. Scientists said that the source of the latest radio waves is believed to be a very powerful magnetic neutron star. NASA explained that a neutron star is formed after the core of a massive star undergoes gravitational collapse. The said phenomenon occurs when the star reaches its end life. Such stars’ magnetic field could be over 10 trillion times powerful than a refrigerator magnet.

NASA said that astronomers on April 28 detected an FBR originating in the galaxy. Just a day earlier, two space observatories had detected multiple bursts of X-ray and gamma-ray emissions. It said that the CHIME and STARE2 also detected similar signals coming from the magnetar. The magnetar, SGR 1935+2154, is situated within the galaxy. Interestingly, other space agencies including the European Space Agency, Roscosmos, and CNSA also detected an X-ray burst in the same direction. According to NASA’s estimate, the start is located in the northern sky constellation called Vulpecula. It is estimated to be about 41,000 light-years away from Earth. Several fast radio bursts have been detected in several galaxies, but scientists know a little about them because they last for a short period.