Signals From Space: 5 Theories On What They Are

[Blake Cherpin]

This article explains how Fast Radio Bursts (FRB's) were detected by earth's telescopes. These FRB's shine brightly for a few milliseconds and then disappear. Astronomers have observed these before but only recently have they found a rare repeating signal. Astronomers have five theories as to what this repeating burst of energy could be. One theory is that the repeating burst is a rapidly spinning neutron star. Neutron star's are dead stars basically. If this is the case, scientists still do not know the exact physics behind why the star would emit the repeating energy bursts. Theory 2 is that the bursts are from two neutron stars colliding, but this would not work for the repeating burst because this is a cataclysmic event that would only occur once. Theory 3 is that this is caused by a Blitzar, which is a neutron star that collapsed in on itself and formed a black hole. Again, this may happen when telescopes receive one burst, but it does not work for the rare repeating burst of FRB because of how it is a one time event. Theory 4 is almost the same as 3, but rather then caused by the event of a black hole being created, this theory suggests that dark matter might of hit a black hole and caused the FRB. Theory 5 is a little more far fetched, it outlines how the bursts could be from alien life, far away. This is unlikely because it would mean that another distant species would somehow have the technology to create these bursts, and for some reason, decide to keep the bursts on repeat. 

This article is interesting to me because it gives insight on how our scientists on earth hypothesize and come up with multiple different ways to try to explain things we do not 100% know yet. This article also shows how far modern science has come, scientists are getting a better idea of how events are happening in space. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46825450