Space radio signals reach Earth: 'Not just a coincidence'

Publish date: 2024-08-01

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The truth is out there.

Thousands of deep space radio signals have made their way to Earth — 50 of them from repeating sources, according to Canadian astronomers monitoring what could possibly be alien contact from another world.

Recently detected were 25 new repeating sources, known technically as fast radio bursts, from the depths of the universe, the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment reported.

The project uses a high powered radio telescope in British Columbia to receive the signals.

These FRBs are, according to the scientific CHIME/FRB collaboration, “considered one of the biggest mysteries in astronomy,” but it is confirmed that they came from outside the Milky Way galaxy.

The CHIME telescope has played a major role in detecting radio signals. CHIME/FRB/Luka VlajiÄ.

“Most of the thousands of FRBs that astronomers have discovered to date have only ever been seen to burst once, but there is a small subset that have been seen to burst multiple times,” according to the collaboration.

“One of the big questions is whether the repeating FRBs and those that don’t repeat have similar origins.”

In their newly published research, it was discovered that a portion of the mysterious FRBs were not random signal emissions, said study author Dr. Ziggy Pleunis.

“We can now accurately calculate the probability that two or more bursts coming from similar locations are not just a coincidence,” Dr. Pleunis added.

New pieces of data point to some of the radio signals possibly being connected to one another.

Advancements in this technology have also made Earth’s top minds more privy to what is coming our way.

Development of the CHIME telescope — which can capably scan the northern sky each day — has also led to an increased rate of interception “from a few tens, to thousands in recent years,” according to researchers. Dr. Pleunis said it has “an edge over other telescopes when it comes to discovering FRBs.”

The repeating sources of FRBs are providing criteria that is “uniquely valuable to astronomers” in the sense that the source can be reobserved in greater detail.

Repeating sources of FRBs are uniquely valuable to astronomers.

First, knowing that a source is a repeater creates an opportunity to observe it with other telescopes in more detail. And second, more bursts give us more information on the diversity of emission that a source can produce.

“FRBs are likely produced by the leftovers from explosive stellar deaths.” said Pleunis. “By studying repeating FRB sources in detail, we can study the environments that these explosions occur in and understand better the end stages of a star’s life.”

The CHIME telescope’ high power has led to a major increased reception of deep space radio signals. Courtesy of CHIME

The superpowered telescope and the brains behind it have already led to a major breakthrough.

“It is exciting that CHIME/FRB saw multiple flashes from the same locations, as this allows for the detailed investigation of their nature,” said researcher Adaeze Ibik.

“We were able to hone in on some of these repeating sources and have already identified likely associated galaxies for two of them.”

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