By Andrew Follett
Mysterious and powerful groups of radio waves from deep space beyond the Milk Way galaxy are coming in repeating clusters.
The scientists published their study online Wednesday in the journal Nature.
“Not only did these bursts repeat, but their brightness and spectra also differ from those of other FRBs,” Laura Spitler, lead author and a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Germany, told the press.
Before this discovery, scientists believed that these radio bursts were a unique phenomenon which would not repeat. Each burst can emit as much energy in a millisecond as the Sun emits in 10,000 years.
The scientist speculated that repeated pulses could originate from an unusual object, such as a huge and rotating neutron star.
This isn’t the first time scientists have questioned the origin of strange radio signals from space.
In 1967, a graduate student in astronomy, found an usual pulsing radio signal so predictable it seemed to be a sign of intelligent life. The astronomers even nicknamed the signal LGM-1, for “little green men.” They honesty believed they had detected a signal from an extraterrestrial civilization, but it turned out to be the first pulsar.