A galaxy thought to be 'dead' has surprised scientists by emitting repeated radio bursts. Understand the mystery behind it.
The recent discovery of repeating radio bursts coming from a distant “dead” galaxy has intrigued the scientific community.
These extremely intense, short-lived radio bursts that come from distant regions of the universe (FRBs) are normally associated with young, highly magnetized neutron stars, which expend a huge amount of energy in their formation.
However, the presence of these explosions in a dormant galaxy challenges existing theories about their origin. The study was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and opens new perspectives on the behavior of the universe.
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The mystery of FRBs and the distant galaxy
The massive elliptical galaxy where these FRBs were detected is located approximately 2 billion light years from Earth and has an estimated age of 11,3 billion years.
As it is a galaxy considered “dead”, that is, without active formation of new stars, it was not expected to find such energetic radio bursts in this galaxy. region.
The research, conducted by Vishwangi Shah and his team at McGill University, revealed that the bursts, called FRB 20240209A, are located outside this galaxy, which raises questions about their true origin.
The massive, quiescent elliptical host galaxy of the repeating fast radio burst FRB 20240209A, T. Eftekhari et al 2025 ApJL 979 L22
How was the discovery made?
Scientists used the telescope CHIME (Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment) to detect multiple bursts originating from the same location. However, because this telescope does not have sufficient resolution to pinpoint the exact location of the waves, the team combined their data with a smaller telescope to improve their measurements.
Later, images captured by the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii confirmed that there are no other nearby galaxies, consolidating the association of the FRB with the elliptical galaxy.
Possible explanations for the phenomenon
Scientists speculate that these radio bursts may be related to the merger or collapse of supernova remnants, known as neutron stars.
This scenario would explain how a galaxy with no young star formation can still generate such energetic explosions.
This hypothesis, if confirmed, could redefine the understanding of the conditions necessary for the occurrence of FRBs.
The importance of study for astronomy
Since the first detection of FRBs in 2007, thousands of occurrences have been recorded, but only about 100 of them have had their precise locations identified.
All of these were in regions of intense star formation, which makes FRB 20240209A a true exception.
Because of this, studying these events can provide valuable clues about the distant regions of the universe and the conditions under which these explosions can occur.
The discovery of radio bursts in the dead galaxy poses a challenge to current theories and suggests that there is still much to be explored in the cosmos.
Future investigations could reveal crucial details about the mechanisms behind these mysterious explosions and open new frontiers in astronomical knowledge.