As reported in Nature, one of the most persistent puzzles of modern astronomy centers on fast radio bursts (FRBs), which were first detected in Australia in 2001 by the Parkes telescope. Brief radio bursts are regularly detected from rotating neutron stars called pulsars, which sweep the earth with radiation in the same way as a lighthouse’s beam does.
What was detected in 2001 was a single burst that had an intensity far in excess than any known pulsar. Known as Lorimer bursts after their co-discoverer, these FRBs have become increasingly accepted by the astrophysics community as a common occurrence.
Lasting a mere 5 milliseconds, the FRBs can only have a source that is compact and not more than a couple hundred miles across. At the same time, the energy emitted must be massive for it to be detected on Earth. This leaves a list of candidates that includes neutron stars, merging black holes, and magnetar flares.
One enticing possibility is that FRBs travel “cosmological distances” and that their existence could be used to identify and research missing matter throughout the far reaches of the universe.