Astronomers Edge Closer to Solving a Major Cosmic Conundrum
The origins of fast radio bursts have intrigued scientists for years—and now they've almost pinned one down.
In 2007, astrophysicists at West Virginia University stumbled upon something strange as they reviewed archival data at the Parkes radio telescope in Australia. They found the telescope had detected a powerful flash of radio waves that lasted less than five milliseconds. The signal appeared smeared across a range of frequencies, a sign that the burst had traveled a huge distance—about 3 billion light-years—to Earth. It must have originated from outside the Milky Way, in a distant corner of the universe.
“We’re confused and excited, but it could open up a whole new research field,” Duncan Lorimer, the astrophysicist who co-discovered the signal, back then.
