From what this mystery sound is, to what it could mean in general and for all of mankind!
Join me as we explore the Mysterious Fast Radio Burst (FRB) signal from another galaxy
that Is Repeating every 16 days!
In space, no one can hear you scream, right?
Well that may or not be true (Mythbusters actually tested this as a matter of fact)
but the real truth is that in space there are TONS of sounds for us to listen to and
observe and potentially understand.
We have recorded the sounds of the sun, of various planets, and occasionally, outer space
sends us a signal that we call a Fast Radio Burst or FRB that rings out and we have to
discover what it is and what caused it to be formed.
"FRBs are hugely energetic flares of radiation in the radio spectrum that last just a few
milliseconds at most.
In that timeframe, they can discharge as much power as hundreds of millions of Suns."
This kind of science is very intriguing and very important because of how it helps us
understand space as a whole.
But, the catch is this, these FRBs are meant to be very fast, and very singular in their
message.
Meaning that the "message" that they deliver throughout the stars is not repeated.
It happens, and then it's gone.
That's what makes it so much of a mystery at times because we have to figure out what
series of events led to that sound.
Occasionally, there will be a signal that is found that sometimes repeats, but never
is it regular, it's just never happened...until... ...for the first time, astronomers have found
a fast radio burst (FRB) that repeats on a regular cycle.
Every 16.35 days, the signal named FRB 180916.J0158+65 follows a similar pattern.
For four days, it will spit out a burst or two every hour.
Then it falls silent for 12 days.
Then the whole thing repeats.
Astronomers with the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) Collaboration in
Canada observed this cycle for a total of 409 days.
We don't yet know what it means; but it could be another piece in the complicated conundrum
of FRBs.
Complicated indeed, because certainly this has never happened before.
Last year, the CHIME collaboration announced they had detected a whopping eight new repeating
fast radio bursts, bringing the then-total of repeaters to 10 out of over 150 FRB sources.
And as of now, that's been upped to 11.
But even then, 11 out of 150 of these signals being repeated in some way, and then one and
only one being repeated regularly and in a real timetable?
That's just weird, and it's got a lot of people scratching their heads as to why this can
happen, and how it happens.
But that's the thing though, because this particular signal is a repeater that has a
timeline, that means it can be further studied: "The discovery of a 16.35-day periodicity
in a repeating FRB source is an important clue to the nature of this object," the researchers
wrote in their paper.
Think about it, if it is repeating like clockwork, that means there's a series of events going
on that is causing the signal to happen at a regular frequency.
This could be the work of galactic objects, or something going on with a nearby star,
there are some who even speculate that black holes could be a major player in all of this.
But it's still a bit unclear.
However, there are a few things working in the favor of those who are trying to figure
this out.
FRB 180916.J0158+65 is one of the handful of FRBs that have been traced back to a galaxy.
It's on the outskirts of a spiral galaxy 500 million light-years away, in a star-forming
region.
This means a supermassive black hole is unlikely, but a stellar-mass black hole is possible.
Black Holes are still very much a mystery to us in regards to their power (which is
massive and can destroy about everything) their cores, and all the effects they have
on objects.
Given that things about them are still being learned it's possible that this signal is
nothing more than a byproduct of its natural life.
Or even the potential nearby stars natural lives:
"The single constraint on the orbital period still allows several orders of magnitude range
in companion mass amongst known stellar-mass compact object binaries: from so-called 'black
widow' binary systems, consisting of a low-mass star and a powerful millisecond pulsar whose
wind ablates the companion (albeit typically with few-hour orbital periods), to massive
O/B stars with highly eccentric companion pulsar orbits," the researchers wrote.
But, that doesn't mean the opposite couldn't also be true...
Before we continue diving into all of this signal and other business, be sure to like
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This is the major problem with FRBs, there's just too much we don't know about where they
came from, what they are doing, and why they are doing things at the rate they are or even
the rate they aren't going on.
What makes some of them repeat and some of them not?
What really is the difference between all the FRBs, or is there any at all.
Well, we might have a small clue on that front, but it may not be what you expect it to be.
Do you remember that 11th repeater I mentioned earlier?
It was found coming from an FRB astronomers had thought was a one-off; its repeats were
simply too faint for the equipment that had initially been used to look for them.
Which believe it or not is a common problem with our researching the stars, as we sometimes
have the means to look at the stars, or observe them and other objects in certain ways, but
rarely can we do a deep dive like many want to.
Getting back on track, this suggests that many more FRBs could be repeating, but outside
our detection range.
And the fact that FRB 180916.J0158+65 seemed more or less the same as other FRBs could
mean that other repeating FRBs are also on a cycle - we just haven't detected those cycles
yet.
"Future observations, both intensity and polarimetric, and at all wavebands, could distinguish among
models and are strongly encouraged," the researchers wrote, "as are searches for periodicities
in other repeaters, to see if the phenomenon is generic."
And that's what scientists are going to do!
They're going to keep looking at this signal, and more to see what else pops up, and if
any clues arise about what it truly might be, whether it be something generic, something
special, or something else in between.
So what does this say about our universe as a whole?
Well, simply put, there are still LOTS of things about our universe that we don't know,
don't understand, and are unlikely to understand at this point in time, and likely in the immediate
future.
After all, with many of these FRBs being light years upon light years away, we're already
playing a game of catch-up in regards to how we're finding out about these signals, and
trying to determine what they are all about.
Don't forget, FRB 180916.J0158+65 had to be studied for hundreds of days to determine
that it was a real repeating signal, and that was just ONE true fact that we found out about
it, everything else that surrounds it?
Not so much.
Now I'm sure some of you are stating the following, "Well since it's repeatable, doesn't that
mean that it's something non-natural?
You know, that this comes from aliens?"
Usually this would be the point where someone would mock you because of that notion, but
not here.
The alien question is a sound one, and it's one that many have put to the test when it
came to these many FRBS, and especially FRB 180916.J0158+65.
After all, it's very true that with the repeatable nature of this signal that it would seem to
indicate that it would be something constructed and repeated by someone or something.
Here's the thing though, while they were researching these signals and plotting them out, they
noticed that every single signal was different.
Which does not discount alien life for the record, but the fact that the signals have
no similarities between them at all, and yet all feel the same in their length (outside
of the signal we're focusing on today) seem to indicate that these are indeed natural
occurrences.
After all, if this was an alien signal, why would it be going on for only a few milliseconds?
Not to mention, why wouldn't it repeat?
Only 10 of these FRB signals have ever repeated, but it wasn't in a pattern-like setting in
the way that FRB 180916.J0158+65 did.
So for an alien species to do something like that would either be very primitive, or very
dumb.
Or, of course, it could be an advanced way of communicating that we don't understand,
but at present, it doesn't seem that way.
As for FRB 180916.J0158+65, it would be fair to say that its repeating pattern would indicate
a signal from an advanced society that can send signals into space.
But that raises the question of, "Why only once every 16 days?"
While that is a pattern, that doesn't seem to be one that would be done by a society.
Sure, it could be that because of their place in the galaxy they're in that we're not receiving
all the signals, or that the ones that reach us are the ones that are made every 16 days
for various reasons.
But based on the observations of the signal, they seem too basic to be alien communications.
To be clear, this does NOT prove that aliens don't exist, it's just that when it comes
to this particular anomaly in space it doesn't add up to it being aliens.
At least...not this time.
Which brings us back to the belief that it's a natural sequence of objects that are causing
these events to happen.
Notice that I said the word "belief" and not "theory", because when it comes to these FRBs,
we honestly don't have a lot of theories that match up with the signals we're getting in
space.
Even FRB 180916.J0158+65 has a lack of theories surrounding it because there's just not a
lot to go.
The few things we can guess about it in terms of the "natural events" that cause it to make
these radio signals is that something is blocking it for sixteen days, and then it opens up
for a period of time before being blocked again for another 16 some odd days.
Does this sound like something familiar to you?
It should, because it sounds like an orbit.
If the signal is say coming from a planet for one reason or another (again, not aliens,
not this time) and its orbit around the star or stars that it's around makes it "blocked
out" for a period of 16 days and then able to get free enough to make the signals, that
would give us a lot of clues as to why the signals only reach out during those points.
Including possibly telling us why the stars are affecting that planet in such a way.
Or, if this is another celestial object like a star causing the signal, like a neutron
star, a pulsar, or a black hole, if we can single out why it only happens in certain
bursts, or even why it's happening at all.
But even with the longer and repeating frequencies, if it doesn't happen enough or in a way that
we can examine them, we're kind of helpless in terms of trying to figure out what is going
on with them and why they are happening at all.
Perhaps the biggest mystery of all of these is why they happen in scattered parts of the
universe and why they don't last very long.
What could make this happen all over, yet not be the same as the others, and still only
last a short time?
No one really has an answer to this.
Which brings us to an interesting point that no one can technically dispute.
What if the reason we don't know what these signals really are, or where they came from,
is because they're from something in the universe that we don't fully understand yet?
I know this may seem like a copout answer, but you need to realize that when it comes
to this universe of ours we know a LOT less than we think.
What's more, we've proven time and time again that every time we think we know something,
it's only because we've forced ourselves to understand it.
A great example is the recent discoveries of more moons on Jupiter and Saturn.
How in the heck did we miss those when they're in our own solar system?
It's because we can't keep an eye on space all the time, and that means...there's things
out there we don't fully get.
A great example of this is neutron stars, or pulsars, or even black holes!
At one point in time scientists didn't know or understand how these things worked, or
what they even were!
And it took time and effort and energy and research to figure it all out.
If it took them that long to figure out that which is "common knowledge" now, how long
might it take to figure out these radio signals?
The universe is vast, and it doesn't give up answers that easily, which is why so many
people are trying to solve its mysteries.
And this just the latest one of the bunch.
Thanks for watching everyone!
What do you think about these mysterious fast radio bursts and the new one that has a repeating
pattern?
Do you think that the mystery of what they are and how they're created will be solved
soon?
Or do you think it'll take a while before we figure it out?
Let me know in the comments below, be sure to subscribe, and I'll see you next time on
the channel!