Date: 30/05/2017 13:32:49
From: Tau.Neutrino
ID: 1072615
Subject: FRB 121102

Astronomers think they have discovered what is causing those mysterious cosmic radio bursts

Three thousand thousand thousand years ago, give or take a few million years, in a galaxy 3 thousand thousand thousand light years away, give or take a few million light years, a fast radio burst from the centre of a dwarf galaxy far beyond the Milky Way generated as much energy as 500 million suns in milliseconds.

more…

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Date: 31/05/2017 07:45:43
From: mollwollfumble
ID: 1072921
Subject: re: FRB 121102

Tau.Neutrino said:


Astronomers think they have discovered what is causing those mysterious cosmic radio bursts

Three thousand thousand thousand years ago, give or take a few million years, in a galaxy 3 thousand thousand thousand light years away, give or take a few million light years, a fast radio burst from the centre of a dwarf galaxy far beyond the Milky Way generated as much energy as 500 million suns in milliseconds.

more…

> But there’s one — and, so far, only one — that has delivered roughly 30 signals from the same location, enabling the astronomers to focus on the spot and study it closely.

> What they’ve found, in studies that are awaiting peer review, is that FRB 121102, which was originally believed to be emanating from within our Milky Way, is located instead in a giant stellar nursery near the centre of a faint dwarf galaxy 3 billion light years away.

> strengthens the theory that the densest object in the known universe, a magnetar — a highly magnetic, 19-km-wide neutron star that forms after a star collapses and emits regular radio pulses as it spins — was the cause of the repeating FRB. But it also creates a new mystery: Why is this FRB repeating when the 22 others that have been observed through history aren’t?

So, an LGM but not “little green men”. Pity. Still not proved, though. I need to check if the repeats are regular, and if so how regular.

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Date: 31/05/2017 07:45:44
From: mollwollfumble
ID: 1072922
Subject: re: FRB 121102

Tau.Neutrino said:


Astronomers think they have discovered what is causing those mysterious cosmic radio bursts

Three thousand thousand thousand years ago, give or take a few million years, in a galaxy 3 thousand thousand thousand light years away, give or take a few million light years, a fast radio burst from the centre of a dwarf galaxy far beyond the Milky Way generated as much energy as 500 million suns in milliseconds.

more…

> But there’s one — and, so far, only one — that has delivered roughly 30 signals from the same location, enabling the astronomers to focus on the spot and study it closely.

> What they’ve found, in studies that are awaiting peer review, is that FRB 121102, which was originally believed to be emanating from within our Milky Way, is located instead in a giant stellar nursery near the centre of a faint dwarf galaxy 3 billion light years away.

> strengthens the theory that the densest object in the known universe, a magnetar — a highly magnetic, 19-km-wide neutron star that forms after a star collapses and emits regular radio pulses as it spins — was the cause of the repeating FRB. But it also creates a new mystery: Why is this FRB repeating when the 22 others that have been observed through history aren’t?

So, an LGM but not “little green men”. Pity. Still not proved, though. I need to check if the repeats are regular, and if so how regular.

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Date: 31/05/2017 07:50:54
From: mollwollfumble
ID: 1072926
Subject: re: FRB 121102

Repeats are nowhere near regular, arguing against a magnetar source.

“Six of the bursts were recorded arriving at the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico within just 10 minutes of each other, and then four more spread out signals were detected over the next month, all coming from the same place.”

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