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Mystery Cosmic Radio Burst Caught in Real-Time For the First Time Ever
by Jamie Condliffe
Gizmodo
A huge, short burst of radio waves tearing through space has been caught in real time for the first time ever—and it could help scientists work out where these mysterious cosmic bursts come from. Until now, we only knew of these bursts from historical data.
A team of scientists from Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia, has identified the first ever fast radio burst, sometimes known as a blitzar, as it happened. These bursts last around one millisecond and give off as much energy as the sun does in a million years. Zing.
Mysterious origins
This blitzar's origin is a mystery, but whatever caused it “must be huge, cataclysmic and up to 5.5 billion light years away,” according to researcher Emily Petroff when she spoke to New Scientist. It could be a flare from a giant magnetized neutron star, the collapse of an oversized neutron star, or something else altogether.
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Every Day is Earth Day
Source: http://www.riseearth.com/2015/01/mystery-cosmic-radio-burst-caught-in.html
