Astronomers think they have located the source of a faraway radio transmission burst.
The most intense rapid radio burst (FRB) was detected in 2022.
An (FRB) is an extremely powerful radio burst that originates from an unknown source in space and lasts for milliseconds.
Space radio bursts at high velocities are a riddle of the twenty-first century. Their identification occurred just twelve years ago, and until recently, very little was known about their origins or history.
Scientists believe they have identified the source of FRB 20220610A. Northwestern University researchers have recently proposed that the FRB comes from a cluster of seven galaxies located nearly 8 billion light-years from Earth.
Each galaxy is so close to the others that, surprisingly, they might all fit within our Milky Way.
According to Alexa Gordon of Northwestern University, astronomers arrived at this conclusion after analyzing images taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Gordon stated that without these images, it would be impossible to tell whether the FRB came from a single, massive galaxy or an interacting system.
The seven galaxies have interactions and may combine in the future.
Researcher Wen-fai Fong (associate professor of physics and astronomy) found evidence that the group is “interacting” with one another. Fong speculated that they may be sharing materials or combining.
Gordon said this kind of contact may set off explosions in star formation.
Based on what we know from other FRBs, it could mean that the parent star of FRB 20220610A is associated with a relatively young star population, she said.
At first, scientists thought the FRB came from a single blob-like galaxy that couldn’t be identified.
According to Yuxin (Vic) Dong, a co-author of the paper, just a small proportion of the numerous instances of FRB events found so far have been associated with their respective host galaxies.
FRB 20220610A was first identified on June 10, 2022, by the Western Australian radio telescope. The Very Large Telescope in Chile, operated by the European Southern Observatory, verified the FRB’s faraway origin shortly after.
