Professor Wen-fai Fong
Lead author: graduate student Alexandra Mannings, UC Santa Cruz
Using deep-space imaging from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, an international team of astronomers has discovered that some peculiar, short-lived phenomena have an even more peculiar home.
In a new study, the team including Northwestern University astrophysicists traced the locations of eight fast radio bursts (FRBs), discovering that five resided within spiral galaxies — right along the galaxies’ curvy outstretched arms. This new and surprising information will help researchers determine what astronomical events trigger such brief, intense flashes of light, narrowing down the search of possible sources.
“We don’t know what causes FRBs, so it’s really important to use context when we have it,” said Northwestern’s Wen-fai Fong, a co-author of the study. “Because spiral arms are signs of stars being born, this was a surprise, offering a major clue that FRBs must correlate with star formation.”
“This is the first high-resolution view of a population of FRBs,” said Alexandra Mannings, the study’s lead author. “Most of the galaxies are massive, relatively young and still forming stars. The 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 position.”
The research has been accepted and soon will publish in The Astrophysical Journal.
Continue to the full story on Northwestern News by Amanda Morris.
Learn More
- NASA Hubble, “Hubble Tracks Down Fast Radio Bursts to Galaxies’ Spiral Arms” edited by Lynn Jenner
- UC Santa Cruz, “Astronomers track down fast radio bursts to galaxies’ spiral arms” by Donna Weaver & Tim Stephens
Media Mentions
- CNN, “Mysterious fast radio bursts traced to spiral galaxy arms” by Ashley Strickland
- CNET, “NASA’s Hubble pinpoints location of mysterious radio signals from deep space” by Jackson Ryan
- CBS News, “NASA traces source of mysterious fast radio bursts sending signals to Earth” by Sophie Lewis
- The Independent, “Scientists find source of mysterious ‘fast radio bursts’ being sent to Earth” by Andrew Griffin
- ScienceNews, “Some fast radio bursts come from the spiral arms of other galaxies” by Lisa Grossman
- IFL Science, “Five Mysterious Fast Radio Bursts Tracked To The Spiral Arms Of Their Galaxies” by Dr. Alfredo Carpineti
- Sky & Telescope, “Fast Radio Bursts Tied to Spiral Arms” by Julie Freydlin
- Universe Today, “Hubble Has Tracked Down the Source of 5 Different Fast Radio Bursts” by Scott Alan Johnston
- Space.com, “Hubble Space Telescope traces 5 mysterious ‘fast radio bursts’ to distant spiral galaxies” by Elizabeth Howell
- Ciel & espace, “Malgré des découvertes, l’origine des sursauts radio rapides court toujours“
Video Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center