Scientists have traced an intense radio signal emanating from the depths of space to its source — and were extremely surprised by what they discovered. Independent writes that for years, researchers have tried to explain fast radio bursts (FRBs) — very short and very powerful bursts of energy that come from deep space. Possible explanations have included everything from black holes to alien technology.
According to research in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, scientists recently traced one of these bursts to its home galaxy. But that galaxy turned out to be very old and dead, and had a strange shape.
The FRB in the new study was first detected in February 2024. It continued to pulse until July 2024, which helped researchers pinpoint its location in the sky. When the researchers pointed satellites at the location, they found that the burst came from a galaxy that is 11,3 billion years old and just two billion light-years from Earth.
The scientists then simulated what conditions might exist in this galaxy. They showed that the galaxy is very bright and very massive, with a mass 100 billion times that of the Sun, making it the most massive galaxy with an FRB to date and one of the most massive galaxies of any type discovered.
Previously, researchers had only found FRBs originating from much younger galaxies, so the latest discovery disrupts existing understanding of the sources of these signals.
Astronomers have previously discovered the largest pair of jets from black holes ever seen. They are 23 million light-years long, which is the length of 140 Milky Way galaxies.
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