Post by Andrei Tchentchik on Aug 20, 2020 18:28:09 GMT 2
(.#487).- A civilization ET. could be behind this mysterious radio burst.
A civilization ET. could be behind this mysterious radio burst.
Nathalie Mayer, Journalist.
Posted on 18/02/2020
Once again, Abraham Loeb, a researcher at Harvard University (United States), encourages astronomers to cultivate their childhood imagination. Even if he considers that the rapid radio bursts very probably have a completely natural origin, he does not exclude that extraterrestrial civilizations could be at the origin. And especially the one who made the headlines last week.
Abraham Loeb is a researcher at the prestigious Harvard University (United States). Recently, he hit the headlines by supporting the hypothesis that 'Oumuamua, the interstellar object that everyone takes for an asteroid, may well ultimately be a piece of an alien spacecraft.
Today, he returns to the front of the stage by evoking the case of FRB 189016.J0158 + 65. This rapid radio burst identified last week by astronomers from the Chime / FRB team, presents a 16-day cycle. And nobody really knows, for the moment, what phenomenon is causing it. But in an interview with Cnet, Abraham Loeb believes that anything is possible. Including that it is the trace of an extraterrestrial activity.
Eye to his telescope, Abraham Loeb is guided by his childhood imagination and does not hesitate to consider extraterrestrial causes of certain unexplained phenomena. © Harvard University
The trace of an activity, but not a message
“A civilization could seek to propel vehicles using solar sails. For this, it would need a powerful beam of light. This radio burst could correspond to the escape of this radiation outside the limits of the sail, "imagines the astrophysicist. After all, if we are planning to ship a probe to the stars using a photonic nanowire, why wouldn't extraterrestrial civilizations develop the same idea?
On the other hand, Abraham Loeb is more skeptical when it comes to believing in a message sent to humans by extraterrestrial civilizations. If only because the radio burst observed, however cyclical, took millions of years to reach us. And assuming we are capable of it, the answer we would give it would take millions of years to reach its destination.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
• The rapid radio burst FRB 189016.J0158 + 65 was known to be repetitive.
• Astronomers say today that its activity appears to be periodic.
• It follows a cycle of approximately 16 days.
• A phenomenon they do not yet explain.
Is an extraterrestrial civilization behind this mysterious radio burst?
Rapid radio bursts are enigmatic objects. Some broadcast only once. Others several. And now astronomers have detected, on the side of one of them, an activity that appears periodic, following a cycle of about 16 days.
Article by Nathalie Mayer
Published on 02/14/2020
FRB 189016.J0158 + 65. This repetitive rapid radio burst - or FRB for Fast Radio Burst - had already been talked about a few weeks ago. Astronomers were then able to determine the precise location of this repetitive source of radio waves lasting a few milliseconds. A spiral galaxy located some 500 million light years from our Earth. Today, he returns to the front of the stage. Because it would be the very first rapid radio burst with periodicity.
• A rapid radio burst - or FRB for Fast Radio Burst - corresponds to a radio broadcast that lasts only a few milliseconds. A period of time during which it can discharge as much energy as hundreds of millions of Suns.
• Hundreds of FRBs have been identified in the Universe. Most have only issued once. Others are repetitive. Only a few have been located to date. And astronomers still don't know what produces these emissions.
Astronomers from the Chime / FRB team - the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (Chime telescope) that detected this rapid radio burst for the first time in 2018 - monitored FRB 189016.J0158 + 65 for 409 days . And they were able to extract from the data collected, a pattern that repeats itself according to a cycle of 16.35 days: emissions are recorded over a period of four days then arrive twelve days of silence.
To be completely precise, astronomers report that during certain cycles, the rapid radio burst does not emit any impulse. But that when it emits it, it is always during four days which are repeated according to the established cycle. One more enigma to the assets of the FRB which already intrigued researchers a lot.
NOTE:
Rapid radio bursts appear randomly in our sky. © NRAO Outreach, Vimeo
Several hypotheses to explain the phenomenon
Astronomers imagine that this cycle could be a sign that the source of this rapid radio burst is orbiting a massive black hole-like object. A black hole of stellar mass, because FRB 189016.J0158 + 65 has been located in the periphery of its spiral galaxy, a region in which many stars form. A black hole whose winds or tidal disturbances could stimulate or eclipse the emissions of the rapid radio burst depending on its orbital period.
Another study suggests that these rapid radio bursts are emitted by a neutron star in a binary system. Emissions periodically overshadowed by the winds of his much more massive companion. The idea that it is an isolated object, however, now seems less likely. Because even if the rotation of magnetar type objects - these having already been suspected to be at the origin of FRBs - generates periodicities, these generally appear on the order of a few seconds.
Finally, some may wonder why the hypothesis of extraterrestrial signals is not envisaged. This is because the signals recorded by the researchers correspond to extreme energy events. So much so that it is difficult to imagine that even a superior intelligence is capable of producing it.
F I N .
A civilization ET. could be behind this mysterious radio burst.
Nathalie Mayer, Journalist.
Posted on 18/02/2020
Once again, Abraham Loeb, a researcher at Harvard University (United States), encourages astronomers to cultivate their childhood imagination. Even if he considers that the rapid radio bursts very probably have a completely natural origin, he does not exclude that extraterrestrial civilizations could be at the origin. And especially the one who made the headlines last week.
Abraham Loeb is a researcher at the prestigious Harvard University (United States). Recently, he hit the headlines by supporting the hypothesis that 'Oumuamua, the interstellar object that everyone takes for an asteroid, may well ultimately be a piece of an alien spacecraft.
Today, he returns to the front of the stage by evoking the case of FRB 189016.J0158 + 65. This rapid radio burst identified last week by astronomers from the Chime / FRB team, presents a 16-day cycle. And nobody really knows, for the moment, what phenomenon is causing it. But in an interview with Cnet, Abraham Loeb believes that anything is possible. Including that it is the trace of an extraterrestrial activity.
Eye to his telescope, Abraham Loeb is guided by his childhood imagination and does not hesitate to consider extraterrestrial causes of certain unexplained phenomena. © Harvard University
The trace of an activity, but not a message
“A civilization could seek to propel vehicles using solar sails. For this, it would need a powerful beam of light. This radio burst could correspond to the escape of this radiation outside the limits of the sail, "imagines the astrophysicist. After all, if we are planning to ship a probe to the stars using a photonic nanowire, why wouldn't extraterrestrial civilizations develop the same idea?
On the other hand, Abraham Loeb is more skeptical when it comes to believing in a message sent to humans by extraterrestrial civilizations. If only because the radio burst observed, however cyclical, took millions of years to reach us. And assuming we are capable of it, the answer we would give it would take millions of years to reach its destination.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
• The rapid radio burst FRB 189016.J0158 + 65 was known to be repetitive.
• Astronomers say today that its activity appears to be periodic.
• It follows a cycle of approximately 16 days.
• A phenomenon they do not yet explain.
Is an extraterrestrial civilization behind this mysterious radio burst?
Rapid radio bursts are enigmatic objects. Some broadcast only once. Others several. And now astronomers have detected, on the side of one of them, an activity that appears periodic, following a cycle of about 16 days.
Article by Nathalie Mayer
Published on 02/14/2020
FRB 189016.J0158 + 65. This repetitive rapid radio burst - or FRB for Fast Radio Burst - had already been talked about a few weeks ago. Astronomers were then able to determine the precise location of this repetitive source of radio waves lasting a few milliseconds. A spiral galaxy located some 500 million light years from our Earth. Today, he returns to the front of the stage. Because it would be the very first rapid radio burst with periodicity.
• A rapid radio burst - or FRB for Fast Radio Burst - corresponds to a radio broadcast that lasts only a few milliseconds. A period of time during which it can discharge as much energy as hundreds of millions of Suns.
• Hundreds of FRBs have been identified in the Universe. Most have only issued once. Others are repetitive. Only a few have been located to date. And astronomers still don't know what produces these emissions.
Astronomers from the Chime / FRB team - the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (Chime telescope) that detected this rapid radio burst for the first time in 2018 - monitored FRB 189016.J0158 + 65 for 409 days . And they were able to extract from the data collected, a pattern that repeats itself according to a cycle of 16.35 days: emissions are recorded over a period of four days then arrive twelve days of silence.
To be completely precise, astronomers report that during certain cycles, the rapid radio burst does not emit any impulse. But that when it emits it, it is always during four days which are repeated according to the established cycle. One more enigma to the assets of the FRB which already intrigued researchers a lot.
NOTE:
Rapid radio bursts appear randomly in our sky. © NRAO Outreach, Vimeo
Several hypotheses to explain the phenomenon
Astronomers imagine that this cycle could be a sign that the source of this rapid radio burst is orbiting a massive black hole-like object. A black hole of stellar mass, because FRB 189016.J0158 + 65 has been located in the periphery of its spiral galaxy, a region in which many stars form. A black hole whose winds or tidal disturbances could stimulate or eclipse the emissions of the rapid radio burst depending on its orbital period.
Another study suggests that these rapid radio bursts are emitted by a neutron star in a binary system. Emissions periodically overshadowed by the winds of his much more massive companion. The idea that it is an isolated object, however, now seems less likely. Because even if the rotation of magnetar type objects - these having already been suspected to be at the origin of FRBs - generates periodicities, these generally appear on the order of a few seconds.
Finally, some may wonder why the hypothesis of extraterrestrial signals is not envisaged. This is because the signals recorded by the researchers correspond to extreme energy events. So much so that it is difficult to imagine that even a superior intelligence is capable of producing it.
F I N .
