CHIME telescopes (shown here) detected the unusual fast radio burst in February 2024. Image by CHIME, Andre Renard, Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Toronto
For the first time, astronomers have traced a fast radio burst (FRB) to the outskirts of an ancient, dead, elliptical galaxy — an unprecedented home for a phenomenon previously associated with much younger galaxies.
Detailed in two complementary studies led by Northwestern University and McGill University, the discovery shatters assumptions that FRBs solely emanate from regions of active star formation. The new observational evidence, instead, hints that the origins of these mysterious cosmic events might be more diverse than previously thought.
Both studies were published today (Jan. 21) in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
“The prevailing theory is that FRBs come from magnetars formed through core-collapse supernovae,” said Northwestern’s Tarraneh Eftekhari, who led one of the studies and coauthored the other. “That doesn’t appear to be the case here. While young, massive stars end their lives as core-collapse supernovae, we don’t see any evidence of young stars in this galaxy. Thanks to this new discovery, a picture is emerging that shows not all FRBs come from young stars. Maybe there is a subpopulation of FRBs that are associated with older systems.”
“This new FRB shows us that just when you think you understand an astrophysical phenomenon, the universe turns around and surprises us,” said Northwestern’s Wen-fai Fong, a senior author on both studies. “This ‘dialogue’ with the universe is what makes our field of time-domain astronomy so incredibly thrilling.”
Eftekhari is a NASA Einstein Fellow at Northwestern’s Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA). Fong is an associate professor of physics and astronomy at Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and a member of CIERA.
Continue to the full Northwestern news article.