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More mysterious radio signals detected coming from deep space

By Solange Reyner   From Newsmax

Scientists have detected six radio bursts from a region in deep space, far beyond our Milky Way, where they had previously uncovered similar signals according to a report in The Astrophysical Journal.

The fast radio bursts, or FRBs, only last milliseconds but can generate as much energy as the Sun in one day. The signals have caused some head scratching and, theories that intelligent beings are trying to communicate with us.

Scientists recorded receiving the first signals in Puerto Rico at the Arecibo radio telescope within just 10 minutes of each other. This time, a team of researchers from McGill University in Canada reported the signals coming from the same spot.

“We report on radio and X-ray observations of the only known repeating fast radio burst source, FRB 121102,” the team wrote in The Astrophysical Journal.

“We have detected six additional radio bursts from this source: five with the Green Bank Telescope at 2 GHz, and one at 1.4 GHz with the Arecibo Observatory, for a total of 17 bursts from this source.”

The report was released on Dec. 20.

In total, 17 FRBs have been detected from the same location, including some this past March. The first signals were detected in 2012.

“Whether FRB 121102 is a unique object in the currently known sample of FRBs, or all FRBs are capable of repeating, its characterisation is extremely important to understanding fast extragalactic radio transients,” the team writes in the paper.
IMAGE: Perseid meteor along the Milky Way illuminating the dark sky near Pesquera de Ebro in the province of Burgos, northern Spain, during the ‘Perseids’ meteor shower. (AFP / Cesar Manso)

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