Astronomers have detected a mysterious blast of radio waves that have taken 8 billion years to reach Earth.
- The fast radio burst is one of the most distant and energetic ever observed. The burst, named FRB 20220610A, lasted less than a millisecond, but in that fraction of a moment, it released the equivalent of our sun’s energetic emissions over the course of 30 years.
- Radio telescopes have helped astronomers trace these quick cosmic flashes, including the ASKAP array of radio telescopes, located on Wajarri Yamaji Country in Western Australia.
About Fast radio bursts (FRBs)
- Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-duration pulses of radio emission originating from extragalactic distances.
- Many FRBs release super bright radio waves lasting only a few milliseconds at most before disappearing, which makes fast radio bursts difficult to observe.
- The first FRB was discovered in 2007, and since then, hundreds of these quick, cosmic flashes have been detected coming from distant points across the universe.
