For years, astronomers have been detecting incredibly powerful pulses from the cosmos, without a confirmed source. Recent advances in astronomy are getting us closer to the solution.
Researchers used a radio telescope in New Mexico to study a particularly interesting fast radio burst.
Diana Robinson/Flickr
Astronomers studying fast radio bursts recently discovered one that repeats, has a persistent radio signal and originated in a galaxy much closer than it should have.
Mysterious blasts of radio waves from across the universe called fast radio bursts are getting more attention from astronomers.
ESO/M. Kornmesser
Fast radio bursts are the focus of a young and fascinating field of astronomy. Researchers just released data on more than 500 new bursts, quadrupling the total number of detected events.
Diligence, technological progress and a little luck have together solved a 20 year mystery of the cosmos.
CSIRO/Alex Cherney
Cosmologists had only been able to find half the matter that should exist in the universe. With the discovery of a new astronomical phenomenon and new telescopes, researchers just found the rest.