What's that Repeating Radio Signal from the milky way's center?
From what it is and might be, to what else is being heard out there in the confines of space,
allow us ask, what's that Repeating Radio Signal from the milky way's center?
Space is a very big place as you know. But what gets lost at times is that while it may seem
like a massive vacuum that just so happens to have various stars, planets, gas clouds,
black holes and various other entities "filling up space", there is another thing that is hidden
within space itself. Mainly, sounds and signals. At first that may not seem odd but remember that
many people don't think about "sounds" when they talk about space. There's even the saying that "in
space no one can hear you scream". And as for signals, most would say that they can't happen
because most signals are made by entities like us humans, right? Except, throughout space there have
been a variety of sounds and signals picked up by us that have boggled the minds of many. Including
one found recently that seems to be coming from the very center of the Milky Way Galaxy.
Specifically, scientists have encountered a signal that is very much like a repeating radio signal.
Something that is found in space more often than you might think. But the reason that this one
has may people stumped is that it is an energy signature that has never been detected before.
Just as important, the energy source is extremely finicky, appearing bright in the radio spectrum
for weeks at a time and then completely vanishing within a day. Why is that something of note?
Because the various "celestial bodies" of the universe that we know about
have been studied at length for signals and energy patterns like this...and yet...not
a signal one of them match-up to what this repeating signal is doing at the Milky Way core.
The radio source — known as ASKAP J173608.2−321635 —
was detected with the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) radio telescope, situated
in the remote Australian outback. In an ASKAP survey taken between April 2019 and August 2020,
the strange signal appeared 13 times, never lasting in the sky for more than a few weeks.
The team who found the signal noted that it would show up and disappear
at a variable rate (meaning that it couldn't be predicted or 'timed out' to make a pattern).
But what was really curious was that the signal is believed to have never been detected
before prior to the Pathfinder picking it up. Others like the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the
Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory tried to get in on the action to help detect the signal,
but every time they tried the signal would disappear before it could be picked up by them.
Multiple attempts were made to go and try to pair this signal with others that had come before it
but nothing matched. Thus, it is a mystery, and one that isn't clear as to when it will be solved.
If you're curious how that is, because of how long we've had technology like satellites, probes,
telescopes, etc., we know about certain signals and energy pulses
that come from things like pulsars, various novas or magnestars and so on.
But this repeating signal doesn't line up with them and other "likely" explanations
don't match up because of what the signal doesn't have versus what it does (such as
in one case where a star emitted a signal that had a high burst of x-rays with it).
The closest match is a mysterious class of object known as a galactic center radio transient (GCRT),
a rapidly glowing radio source that brightens and decays near the Milky Way's center, usually over
the course of a few hours. The reason that it's hard to match this with the repeating signal is
that only three GCRTs have been confirmed over the years. Furthermore, the signals that were picked
up as GCRTs were much shorter in length and "life" than the one that was found at the Milky Way core.
However, the few known GCRTs do shine with a similar brightness as the mysterious signal,
and their radio flare-ups are never accompanied by X-rays. So if anything, this could be a new
form of GCRT, or just a stronger signal that we had never been able to catch up until now.
Which wouldn't be that surprising given that GCRTs are rare and we were lucky to get three
confirmed ones, so one being found that "pushes the bounds" of what we thought it could do before
isn't that hard to fathom given the scope of the known universe.
Of course, if it's NOT a GCRT, then the question becomes...what is it? That's honestly hard to
speculate for various reasons. Not the least of which is that it's already been confirmed to NOT
be a known signal. Which rules out things we've already observed like various forms of stars,
planets, black holes, and so on. So it's possible it could be something new, something that we
honestly haven't witnessed before in space. Again, given the scope of the universe,
that wouldn't be the most impossible thing ever. The other possibility is that it could be
something that is a mixture of items and circumstances that emit the signal. The reason
we bring this up is the "variable nature" by which the signal arose and dropped out.
If it was a "standard" stationary thing, you'd think the signal would be more "focused" and
predictable, and yet it wasn't. As such, it could be a confluence of things that
made the single, and then when those things fell out of it, it was gone.
This is more likely than you might think because of how this signal comes from the core of the
Milky Way where all sorts of items and reactions and creations are happening all the time.
Or...it could be alien life. That can't be discounted either.
As for what happens now with the signal, the people from the various
observatories and science stations are going to try and track it down again.
The more they detect it, the more data we can get on it, and that's what will eventually lead to the
revelations about what it is, and what it isn't. Before we tackle the next sect of signals and
sounds, be sure to like or dislike the video so that we can try and make the
best videos possible for you, the viewer! And if you haven't already, be sure to
subscribe! Now, back to the topic at hand! Since we've talked about one signal/sound
that we don't know about, how about we discuss some we DO know some about? Like what?
How about the famous "WOW Signal"? You might think that most of these
radio signals from space were detected in the modern times by advanced technology,
but sometimes you don't need technology of a grand sort to find things. Sometimes you just need some
luck and to be pointing in the right direction. Such as when the Big Ear radio telescope at
Ohio State University was listening to space in 1977 and found a signal that would change
a lot of perceptions about space. The telescope was made to listen
to space via radio emissions, but it was then converted and remade into a telescope
that would look for signals that could prove alien life. When it was outfitted to do its
task it looked up at space...and things started to get found...from a certain point of view.
Back then, they would print out the sounds they collected into numbers and letters and look for
things like patterns of similarities to help infer what they were. And one day, they found " 6EQUJ5".
Which is a now famous code because it's a radio signal that is played at about 1420 megahertz.
But not just played, played continuously from one spot.
The Sagittarius constellation. The head of the telescope at the time saw this pattern, circled
it and wrote "Wow!" Thus the name of the signal. As they dove deeper into the signal they were
unable to figure out why it was constantly emitting. Even now, decades after the signal
was found, we don't know everything about the WOW signal, and thus, the work continues to see what
other signals or sounds can be found in space. This brings us to a major mystery of space.
Because there are "Cosmic Puzzles" in regards to sound waves that are out there waiting to
be solved. An example of this was revealed in early 2019. A telescope in Canada had picked up
some odd repeating signals coming from space. But not just space, a galaxy 1.5 billion light years
away from us. While a signal isn't too strange, one that repeats means it's a constant event,
but what its intent is...isn't known: "Knowing that there is another suggests
that there could be more out there," said Ingrid Stairs, an astrophysicist from the University
of British Columbia (UBC). "And with more repeaters and more sources available for study,
we may be able to understand these cosmic puzzles - where they're from and what causes them."
This actually perfectly ties into the signal that we discussed earlier because it is indeed
a "cosmic puzzle". Especially since we know where the repeating signal came from...but
not what's causing it. Adding it to the list of things that are a bit strange,
weird, and quite literally "out there". If you want something a bit more concrete,
we should head to Jupiter and talks about the sounds and signals that have been found there.
"Wait," you say, "you can HEAR a planet?" In its own way, yes. We have things that can detect very
special kinds of sounds or signals. Including using radio waves as we've already shown you.
Radio Astronomy is a big part of exploring space, and it's actually the reason that we helped
confirm the possibility of the Big Bang Theory if you know your history. In terms of the planets,
ones like Jupiter emit their own radio waves. Specifically, Jupiter produces radio waves at
5-40 megahertz. So, if you have a shortwave radio, and you're able to point its antennae at Jupiter,
you would technically be able to hear those radio frequencies.
Which brings us to the next question of emitting a radio pulse, how does that happen with Jupiter? In
simplistic terms, it has to do with the magnetic field of the planet. There are subatomic particles
in the magnetic field that bounce around in such a wave that it produces radio waves.
So the final question must be...what does Jupiter "sound like"?
According to confirmed recordings of the planet (of which NASA has some for
you to listen to if you feel so inclined), it sounds at times like the popping of popcorn.
And other times, it sounds like the roar of ocean waves crashing on the shore.
One time, NASA's Cassini Space Probe went by the planet and recorded a kind of whistling signal,
making many wonder if that's a different "signal" from the magnetic properties of the planet.
Now imagine if we were able to go record the sounds of every single planet out there in the
universe? Could you imagine the sounds we would hear? Or the signals we might be able to detect
because of how close in proximity we were to them? That's why Radio Astronomy is such a
big field of science right now. Because we're trying to learn more about these frequencies,
emissions, sounds, signals and so on so that we can know more and more about what space is like.
Even if we can't hear or detect it without help. Thanks for watching! What did you think of this
look at the mysterious repeating radio signal that is coming from the center of our very own milky
way galaxy? Were you surprised by its arrival? What do you personally think it is? And what of
all these other mysterious and scary noises from space, what did you think of them? Let us know
in the comments below, be sure to subscribe and we'll see you next time on the channel!