Have you ever caught fast radio explosions? Probably not, because such signals (in English, “Fast Radio Burst” – FRB) do not last long. In practice, these are millisecond-thousandths of a second pulses emitted from the FM band frequencies.

The first fast wireless explosion was recognized in 2007

In the ninetieth episode of Sixth Science science podcast Science and the future And the 20 minutestells you how scientists track these strange signals traveling through space.

In 2007 the first FRB was identified, three billion years after us. At the microphone, Fabrice Nicot, journalist at Science and the future Specializing in basic physics topics, answering questions from Romain Gouloumès from 20 minutes And it tells you all about these ultrashort, powerful, and also frequent, signals: 10,000 per day in the sky, according to Ismail Quinard, a researcher at the Laboratory of Physics and Chemistry for the Environment and Space (LPC2E) interviewed by Fabrice Nicot. Therefore, expelling the FRB is like finding a needle in a cosmic haystack, the journalist summarizes in his file.

Gamma ray bursts

tche becomes more complex with a “gamma ray burst” (GRB) that occurs at the other end of the electromagnetic spectrum, on the gamma ray side. They last longer (one second and sometimes more), they were discovered in the 1960s and according to the most popular hypothesis, they will result from the collapse of a massive star that has reached the end of its life. And what about the radio signals recorded at the center of our galaxy by an Australian radio telescope and confirmed by a more sensitive instrument located in South Africa. Is it the presence of a magnetic field? Who scattered light through dust clouds?

Undoubtedly, before finding the answer, you will have time to read our article “The search for radio bursts has begun ”(extract from the monthly magazine SScience and the Future – Research No. 907dated September 2022). You can also view all files Sixth Science Archive And subscribe for free on Apple Podcast.