For just the second time, scientists have recorded the repeat of a mysterious cosmic flash know as a fast radio burst (FRB). This remarkable observation could help scientists to better understand this phenomenon and where these bursts originate in the universe.
FRBs are extremely brief (think millisecond) flashes of radio waves that originate from random (as far as we can tell) places in the cosmos. Astronomers have grappled with this mystery for years because, while they continue to observe bursts, they are still unsure of what causes them. “We estimate that there are up to 1,000 of these bursts in the entire sky every day,” corresponding author Shriharsh Tendulkar of McGill University said in an email.
But, until this most recent work, only one repeating FRB, known as FRB 121102, had been observed. Every other FRB has flashed once and then disappeared. But now, using the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping ...
