Scientists closer to solving one of astronomy’s greatest mysteries

A new insight into an old astronomical mystery has been brought to light through collaborative research that involved UWA researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery.

The mystery is the origin of Fast Radio Bursts or FRBs. These are radio bursts that emit a bright light from billions of lightyears away but last only a millisecond.

The source of these bright lights is still unknown and have been studied for more than a decade, but this new research has shown a possible link between this phenomenon and gravitational waves which are ripples in the curvature of space and time.

This link could reveal the source of these bursts and can aid in predicting them in the future.

To discuss this new research further, Dr. Eric Howell, Associate Investigator at UWA’s School of Physics, Maths and Computing joins Fiona Bartholomaeus on On the Record.

Fast Radio Bursts