Astronomers from MIT and other researchers from universities in Canada as well as the United states have detected bizarre fast radio bursts (FRB) from deep space with a heartbeat pattern. This signal persists for up to three seconds, or approximately 1,000 times longer than the average FRB. Within this window, bursts of radio waves were detected that repeat every 0.2 seconds in a clear periodic pattern, just like a beating heart.
The signal, classified as FRB 20191221A, is currently the longest-lasting FRB, with the clearest periodic pattern yet. It comes from a galaxy located several billion light-years from Earth, but the exact source remains a mystery. However, astronomers assume that the signal could emanate from either a radio pulsar or a magnetar. Unfortunately, Lightsail 2, the crowdfunded solar spacecraft did not pick up any mysterious signals from deep space.
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Examples that we know of in our own galaxy are radio pulsars and magnetars, which rotate and produce a beamed emission similar to a lighthouse. And we think this new signal could be a magnetar or pulsar on steroids,” said Daniele Michilli, a postdoc in MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research.
