Fast radio bursts are extremely powerful but very short-lived events that scientists discovered less than two decades ago. Their source is still unclear, but a recent study suggests that they originate in the vicinity of the magnetar surface.
Fast radio bursts
Recently, researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology published a study in which they were able to learn more about the sources of so-called fast radio bursts. These signals are so powerful that scientists hear them both within our galaxy and at distances that are comparable to the size of the entire Universe we observe.
Meanwhile, fast radio bursts are really short-lived and last for fractions of a second. Because of this, it is almost impossible to accurately establish their origin and, even more, to tie them to specific astronomical objects.
In fact, the first fast radio burst was discovered only in 2007, but since then the number of their observations has been growing steadily. Scientists even have a few theories to explain where these events come from. The most popular one links these radio signals to magnetars.
Radio pulse scintillation
No matter how short-lived fast radio bursts may be, changes in intensity, similar to the twinkling of stars, can be traced in their structure. Similar to this phenomenon, the disturbance of a radio signal is caused by its passage through a gaseous medium.
The phenomenon of scintillation, the absorption of energy at certain frequencies, occurs in interstellar gas. It has an interesting pattern: the more point source the radiation is, the stronger it is. Therefore, by knowing the distance to the source of a fast radio burst, it is possible to determine the size of the area in which the burst occurred.
This is exactly what was used in the new study. FRB 20221022A, discovered in 2022, was chosen as its object. Then it was observed a lot by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME). This radio telescope consists of four large stationary receivers, each shaped like a half- tube, which are tuned to detect radio emissions in a band that is very sensitive to fast radio bursts.
Results of observations
The results of the CHIME observations showed that the radiation area of the radio burst was very small. It was no more than 10,000 km around the compact object.
Moreover, the scientists recognized the pattern by which the scintillation signal occurs. They observed the same thing in the vicinity of magnetars. However, the fact that it was born so close to the surface of the magnetar a little surprised scientists, but at the same time, it also clarified something.
Magnetars are neutron stars with incredibly strong magnetic fields. The latter are of such incredible intensity that any matter within them would have to behave strangely and tend to generate explosions.
According to phys.org
