These signals — called fast radio bursts (FRBs) — were discovered in 2007 by two astrophysicists while poring through data collected in 2001 from the Parkes Observatory in New South Wales, Australia. Since then, dozens more have been detected, even a different form called repeating fast radio bursts. Magnetars are a fascinating type of neutron star, the collapsed core of a massive star that exploded. "There is a neutron star that has an extremely high magnetic field, and … it tells you that the magnetar, the neutron star, and its magnetosphere are powering that event. And the only way we achieve that understanding is by studying nature: magnetars and fast radio bursts and extreme phenomenon in nature," Scholz said.

Source: CBC News November 05, 2020 09:00 UTC