[ad_1]
An artist illustration of a fast radio burst reaching the Earth. Different colors mean different wavelengths of light.
Credit: Jingchuan Yu, Beijing Planetarium
The mysterious explosion of light flashes from deep space last year was even more frenetic than we thought, according to a new study.
On August 26, 2017, astronomers from the Breakthrough Listen project – a $ 100 million effort to look for signs of intelligent alien life – spotted 21 repetitive light pulses called fast radio bursts (FRB) 1 hour.
Some scientists believe that FRBs come from rapidly rotating neutron stars, but that their source has not been determined. And that explains the interest of Breakthrough Listen: it is possible that the bursts are produced by intelligent extraterrestrials, perhaps to explode spacecraft at incredible speeds, according to some people. (Breakthrough Listen's partner project, Breakthrough Starshot, is developing a lightweight laser-based navigation system that aims to launch tiny probes to foreign solar systems in the next 30 years.) [13 Ways to Hunt Intelligent Aliens]
And FRB 121102, which is about 3 billion light-years away from Earth, is particularly intriguing: it is the only known source of "repeaters" for FRBs, which are generally unique.
In the new study, members of the Breakthrough Listen team based at the University of California at Berkeley SETI (Extraterrestrial Intelligence Search) applied machine learning techniques to the August 2017 dataset, acquired by the Green Bank Telescope was initially analyzed using traditional methods.
The researchers, led by Gerry Zhang, a PhD student at the University of Berkeley, have formed an algorithm called "convolutional neural network" to detect the FRB among the 400 terabytes of data. The strategy is similar to the one used by computer companies to optimize search results on the Internet, said representatives of Breakthrough Listen in a statement.
Zhang and his colleagues unearthed 72 additional flashes, bringing to 93 the total number of FRBs detected that day, from this single source (whatever it is).
"All the discoveries do not come from new sightings," said breakthrough initiative executive director, Pete Worden, in the release. (Breakthrough Listen is part of the Breakthrough Initiatives program, which also includes Breakthrough Starshot, Breakthrough Message, and Breakthrough Watch.)
"In this case, it was an intelligent and original reflection applied to an existing dataset," added Worden. "This has advanced our knowledge of one of the most enticing mysteries of astronomy."
This mystery remains, of course; we still do not know what the FRBs are. But the artificial intelligence approach used in the new study could lead to various advances in the future, Zhang said.
"This work is only the beginning of using these powerful methods to detect radio transients," he said in the same statement. "We hope our success will inspire other serious efforts in the application of machine learning to radio astronomy."
The new document has been accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal. You can read a free copy on the website Breakthrough Listen FRB 121102.
Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @ michaeldwall and Google+. follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally posted on Space.com.
[ad_2]
Source link
