Plasma Bubbles and the “Engine” of Fast Radio Bursts

Socorro, NM – The US National Science Foundation (NSF) National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) and the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (NSF VLA) have played a pivotal role in uncovering the origins of persistent emissions observed in some fast radio bursts (FRBs). An international team of astronomers has demonstrated that this persistent radiation originates from a plasma bubble, shedding new light on the enigmatic sources powering these cosmic phenomena.

Rapid-fire fast radio burst shows hot space between galaxies

A recently discovered, rare and persistent rapid-fire fast radio burst source – sending out an occasional and informative cosmic ping from more than 3.5 billion light years away – helps to reveal the secrets of the broiling hot space between the galaxies. That’s according to an international team of astronomers who published their findings in the journal Nature.

Astronomers Closer to Unlocking Origin of Mysterious Fast Radio Bursts

Nearly 15 years after the discovery of fast radio bursts (FRBs), the origin of the millisecond-long, deep-space cosmic explosions remains a mystery. That may soon change, thanks to the work of an international team of scientists – including UNLV astrophysicist Bing Zhang – which tracked hundreds of the bursts from five different sources and found clues in FRB polarization patterns that may reveal their origin.

CHIME telescope and collaborative efforts from WVU lead to the detection of more than 500 fast radio bursts

With the help of the radio telescope located at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, operated by the National Research Council of Canada, in British Columbia, Canada, the telescope has nearly quadrupled the number of FRB discovered to date.