The Milky Way was the first to detect ultra-bright ultrasonic and powerful flashes, more powerful than those emitted by the Sun.
This high-intensity emission, known as fast radio bursts (FRB), usually lasts only a second.
FRBs were first discovered in 2007, but it was far from clear where they originated.
Researchers say these are the closest FRBs found to an astronomical object known as a magnetar, 30,000 light – years from Earth.
Magnets are a type of neutron star with a very strong magnetic field – only a few of which are thought to be in the Milky Way.
Physicists have previously speculated that magnets may produce FRBs, but there is no evidence to support that.
Kiyoshi Masui, an assistant professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, who led the team that analyzes the brightness of FRBs, said: “There is a great deal of mystery about what caused this great explosion. We saw it coming from half of the universe.
“This is the first time we ‘ve been able to connect one of these exotic fast radio explosions to a single astronomical object.”
The findings, published in three separate papers in the journal Nature, come from an international team of more than 50 researchers.
Astronomers used five telescopes, known as SGR 1935 + 2154, to pick up signals from a magnet in the center of the galaxy.
These include the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME), the Survey for Transient Astronomical Radio Emission 2 (STARE2), and three X – ray telescopes, including the European Space Agency’s INTEGRAL Space Telescope.
The researchers said they first observed X-ray bursts from the magnetar, followed by short but bright radio flashes within several milliseconds.
Based on the intensity of the FRB flashes, astronomers were able to measure the brightness of the magnet.
Christopher Bocenek, an astronomer at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, USA, who is part of the team examining data from the STARE2 telescope, said: “In a millisecond, this magnet emits energy in radio waves. The sun works in 30 seconds. ”
However, questions still remain about how magnets produce FRBs.
Professor Masui said: “We are trying to figure out what that means.
“We opened our eyes to other magnets, but now the big thing is to study this one source and really go down to see what it has to say about how FRBs are made.”
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