Brightest fast radio burst ever detected picked up in Australia – FRB 180309

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On March 9, the brightest Fast Radio Burst detected so far was picked up by CSIRO’s Parkes Radio Telescope, located in Australia. Dubbed FRB 180309, it had a signal-to-noise ratio of 411, making it the brightest one we’ve seen “by far.”

Brightest fast radio burst ever detected picked up in Australia - FRB 180309, brightest fast radio burst, fastest fast radio burst, most powerful brightest fast radio burst captured in australia
Detection of FRB 180301 with the Breakthrough Listen backend instrument at CSIRO’s Parkes Radio Telescope: the top panel shows the de-dispersed pulse while the bottom panel shows the frequency structure with the pulse dispersed across 340 MHz of the observed band. Image: Breakthrough Listen

But it wouldn’t be a mystery if there wasn’t a catch. FRBs, despite being absurdly bright and powerful, don’t seem to appear in patterns. They come from many different parts of the sky, but it seems that only two have ever come from the same source: FRB 121102, which may have come from a neutron star. The others appear almost randomly, making studying them difficult. On top of that, only 33 have ever been observed.

Could this be a case of interstellar language getting lost in translation? Well, it looks like FRBs will remain a mystery.

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Astronomers Telegram, New Scientist

8 Comments

  1. Could this be a case of interstellar language getting lost in translation?

    I can translate in my way. “Hey, Shadow Government (=Reptilian World Government) and Illuminati (reptilian Royal organization) on the Earth! Stop resisting! You are under arrest (=cardiac arrest =heart attack)! You have the right to remain silence. You are going to be on the trial in the Galactic Court, and to be sent to a prison planet until you are rehabilitated.”

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