Thanks to the new observations by the Hubble Space Telescope, explaining mysterious radio energy bursts might become easier for astronomers. The telescope tracked 5 fast radio bursts (FRBs) to the spiral arms of 5 distant galaxies.
It’s difficult to trace FRBs because their bright flares fade very quickly. That’s the reason astronomers have found only 1,000 of them. However, that doesn’t stop them from making theories about their origins.
The team behind the new study discarded older hypotheses related to fast radio bursts. Since the newly discovered bursts don’t belong to the regions filled with massive stars, this set cannot be associated with start explosions, which produce supernovas.
Hubble observations used for the study
These FRBs are also not coming from neutron stars, as such collisions are very rare and happen far outside of galactic arms, the research notes. Hubble telescope’s observations from 2009, 2019, and 2020 indicate that FRBs might be coming from magnetars, a highly magnetized neutron star.
The space telescope used ultraviolet and near-infrared light through its Wide Field Camera 3, which was installed during a servicing mission in 2009. These two wavelengths allow scientists to estimate the mass of observed galaxies.
“The [Hubble] imaging allows us to get a better idea of the overall host-galaxy properties, such as its mass and star-formation rate, as well as probe what’s happening right at the FRB,” said lead author Alexandra Mannings.
New method to locate Quasars
Besides, Astronomers develop new methods to pinpoint rare extragalactic objects. Quasars that are the most luminous source of light in the universe are found in almost all galaxies out there. Astronomers have managed to identify more than a million quasars until now.
A team of scientists from the University of Bath has found a new method to pinpoint changing-look quasars. “These quasars and supermassive black holes are extremely important for galaxy evolution—the more we learn about them, the more we understand how they influence the growth of galaxies,” said Astrophysicist Dr. Carolin Villforth.
