A new fast radio burst (FRB) has been traced to the outskirts of an 11.3-billion-year-old galaxy, challenging the prevailing theory that these events originate solely from regions of active star formation. This discovery suggests that the origins of FRBs might be more diverse than previously thought.
Astronomers previously believed that all fast radio bursts ( FRB s) originated from magnetars formed during the explosions of young, massive stars. However, a new FRB has been pinpointed to the outskirts of an 11.3-billion-year-old galaxy lacking young, active stars, challenging these assumptions.
This groundbreaking discovery, detailed in two studies led by Northwestern University and McGill University, reveals that FRBs might not solely originate from regions of active star formation, as previously thought. 'The prevailing theory is that FRBs come from magnetars formed through core-collapse supernovae,' explained Tarraneh Eftekhari, a lead researcher from Northwestern University. 'That doesn't seem to be the case here. While young, massive stars eventually end their lives as core-collapse supernovae, we don't see any evidence of young stars in this galaxy. Thanks to this new discovery, a clearer picture is emerging, suggesting that not all FRBs originate from young stars. Perhaps there's a subpopulation of FRBs associated with older systems.'Eftekhari and her collaborators used telescopes at the W.M. Keck and Gemini observatories to investigate the environment surrounding the FRB. Instead of finding a young galaxy, they were surprised to discover that the FRB originated at the edge of an ancient, massive elliptical galaxy located just 2 billion lightyears away from Earth. This galaxy, revealed to be 100 billion times the mass of our sun, is considered one of the most massive FRB host galaxies to date. Notably, the FRB, dubbed FRB 20240209A, was detected on the outskirts of this galaxy, 130,000 lightyears from its center, where few stars exist. 'Among the FRB population, this FRB is located the furthest from the center of its host galaxy,' said Vishwangi Shah, a graduate student at McGill who led the effort to pinpoint the FRB's origins. 'This is both surprising and exciting, as FRBs are typically expected to originate inside galaxies, often in star-forming regions. The location of this FRB so far outside its host galaxy raises questions about how such energetic events can occur in regions lacking new star formation.
FAST RADIO BURSTS FRB GALAXIES ASTRONOMY STAR FORMATION
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