New Space Sound Bursts Have Scientists Puzzled

A new burst of 15 short pulses of radio emission from a distant galaxy have astronomers wondering if they are from rapidly spinning neutron stars or black holes — or are signs of spacecraft from alien civilizations, CBC News reported.

The new fast radio burst — FRB 121102 — just milliseconds long, is the only known one to be repeating, something astronomers cannot yet explain, the outlet reported.

Earlier this month, astronomers in West Virginia not only found the 15 bursts, but found them at a higher radio frequency than was ever observed before, they reported in The Astronomer's Telegram.

"It's not surprising that we've found 15 more from this source; we've been detecting many of them over the past few years," Paul Scholz, an astronomer who studies FRBs with the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory in Penticton, B.C., told CBC News.

"The one thing that's unique about these [new ones] is that they are at a higher frequency than we've ever seen before."

It also behaves like no other FRB, CBC News reported. Usually, objects that emit similar signals, such as pulsars, do so in a smooth fashion across many frequencies.

"So it's kind of perplexing," Scholz said of FRB 121102, adding: "It's a mystery that needs to be solved."

• Weird Space Radio Signals Are Not Aliens!
• Ross 128 Signal: The Message Earth Has Been Waiting For?