Cause of mysterious pulse coming from space finally revealed by scientists after a year of investigating
Scientists have finally found out what was causing strange pulse admissions to Earth from outer space.
After one whole year of investigating its cause, researchers can finally say that they now know what caused very loud transmissions to our little planet.
While you might immediately think that it’s something to do with aliens, UFOs, or even some advanced technology created by a nearby planet, it’s none of the above.
In fact, the cause is a little closer to home.
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According to a new study, the fast radio burst (FRB), was detected last June at the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder, lasting only for 30 nanoseconds.
The signal was much stronger than any other signal coming from space.
Because of how odd that was, scientists tracked the signals to find out exactly where they came from. Some believed it could even be a black hole.
Thankfully, that wasn’t the case, even though most FRBs come from deep within space, and a black hole would make sense.
By as it turns out, it was coming from a long disused NASA satellite called the Relay 2.
Researchers shared that because it’s so close to Earth, the signal was so strong, and clearly, now that we know it’s not anything crazy, panic stations dialled down.
The Relay 2 was launched in 1964 by NASA, but it became stuck orbiting Earth for decades after it broke down less than a year after being set up.
Now, it’s space debris that’s breaking down as the decades go by.
While it has been silent up until now, the research team said that it’s not an indication that it’s suddenly fixed itself.
The researchers said it could be down to a build-up of static electricity that boiled over and discharged a pulse of energy above Earth.
The study went on to note that a cause for the pulse could have been that it was struck by a small piece of space rock, known as micrometeoroid.
This can be between the sizes of millimetres or micrometres, which could have caused it to release a cloud of plasma, magnifying the signal.
But while the mystery has been solved, this isn’t the first time a pulse of space sound has left scientists baffled.
For nine days in September 2023 a seismic signal continued for 90 seconds, and then a month later it repeated itself.
Thankfully, the University of Oxford worked out what actually happened.
They explained in a release that it was down to a couple of 'mega-tsunamis' triggered by a glacier warming which then triggered landslides near a Dickson fjord, East Greenland.
Those tsunamis got stuck in the fjord and set off the signals. Aliens would have been much cooler.
Britt Jones