Fast Radio Bursts Mostly Come from Massive Star-Forming Galaxies

Nov 6, 2024 by News Staff

Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-duration events detected from beyond our Milky Way Galaxy. FRB emission characteristics favor magnetars as their sources, as evidenced by FRB-like bursts from a magnetar in the Milky Way, and the star-forming nature of FRB host galaxies. However, the processes that produce FRB sources remain unknown. According to new research, FRBs are more likely to occur in massive star-forming galaxies. The study also suggests that magnetars, whose magnetic fields are 100 trillion times stronger than Earth’s, often form when two stars merge and later blow up in a supernova.



This photo montage shows the antennas of the Deep Synoptic Array-110, which are used to discover and pinpoint the locations of fast radio bursts (FRBs). Above the antennas are images of some of the FRB host galaxies as they appear on the sky. The galaxies are remarkably large, challenging models that describe FRB sources. Image credit: Annie Mejia / Caltech.


“The immense power output of magnetars makes them some of the most fascinating and extreme objects in the Universe,” said lead author Kritti Sharma, a graduate student at Caltech.

“Very little is known about what causes the formation of magnetars upon the death of massive stars. Our work helps to answer this question.”

To search for FRBs, Sharma and colleagues used the Deep Synoptic Array-110 (DSA-110) at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory near Bishop, California.

To date, the sprawling radio array has detected and localized 70 FRBs to their specific galaxy of origin (only 23 other FRBs have been localized by other telescopes).

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https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-found-a-yellow-brick-road-at-the-bottom-of-the-pacific-ocean