Astronomers Detect a Fast Radio Burst , With a 'Heartbeat' Pattern , From a Distant Galaxy.<br />CNN reports that a mysterious <br />radio burst, named FRB 20191221A, <br />has been detected by astronomers.<br />The signal lasted for up to <br />three seconds, which is approximately 1,000 times <br />longer than typical fast radio bursts (FRBs).<br />It was also the first time<br />astronomers have encountered, a periodic signal.<br />FRB 20191221A has a pattern similar to a heartbeat.<br />Not only was it very long, lasting about <br />three seconds, but there were periodic <br />peaks that were remarkably precise, <br />emitting every fraction of a second <br />— boom, boom, boom — <br />like a heartbeat, Daniele Michilli, postdoctoral researcher in<br />the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Kavli <br />Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, via CNN.<br />According to the team at the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment, the signal offers clues about its origins and what may have caused it. .<br />According to the researchers, the signal <br />was similar to emissions released by a neutron star, <br />specifically either a radio pulsar or a magnetar.<br />However, this signal also appears over <br />one million times brighter than previous <br />observations of those types of neutron stars.<br />We think this new signal could be <br />a magnetar or pulsar on steroids, Daniele Michilli, postdoctoral researcher in<br />the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Kavli <br />Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, via CNN.<br />This detection raises the question <br />of what could cause this extreme signal <br />that we've never seen before, <br />and how can we use this signal <br />to study the universe, Daniele Michilli, postdoctoral researcher in<br />the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Kavli <br />Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, via CNN.<br />On July 13, a study detailing <br />the findings was published <br />in the journal 'Nature.'
