Cosmic Radio Bursts Repeatedly Recorded

Astronomers at the McGill University have been recording repeating short bursts of radio waves from an enigmatic source in outer space. The originating point of these radio wave bursts is still shrouded in mystery. Fast radio wave bursts usually come from a powerful object such as an exploding star or a star collapsing into a black hole and the one associated with these recordings seems to be well beyond the edge of the Milky Way galaxy.

Fast Radio Bursts or FRBs are being studied by the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Ricowhich is also the world’s largest radio telescope. The 305 m  telescope and its suspended support platform of radio receivers is a unique device which has been providing a lot of unusual data for astronomers to process. Arecibo is the first telescope to see repeat bursts from the same source.

Currently there is great ongoing debate as to the source of these FRBs. Some believe that it is from supernova star, others feel that it is more likely to be a rotating neutron star. Others believe that there may be more than one source for the FRBs that are located close to each other. Needless to say that till further evidence comes to light the mystery of this science project will remain to be solved.