Scientists have traced an intense radio signal emitted from outer space to its source – and were utterly amazed by what they discovered.
For years, researchers have been trying to explain fast radio bursts (FRBs) – very short, very powerful bursts of energy emanating from deep space. Possible explanations have ranged from black holes to alien technology.
Not long ago, scientists traced one of these explosions back to its home galaxy. But that galaxy turned out to be very old and dead, and also oddly shaped.
The FRB in the new study was first observed in February 2024. It continued to pulse until July 2024, which helped researchers find its position in the sky, reports Noi.md with reference to .
When the researchers pointed satellites at the location, they discovered that the explosion came from an 11.3 billion-year-old galaxy just two billion light-years from Earth.
Then the researchers modeled the conditions that might be in this galaxy. They showed that the galaxy is very bright and very massive, with a mass 100 billion times that of the Sun, making it currently the most massive FRB parent galaxy discovered and one of the most massive galaxies of any discovered type.
