Mysterious Origin: Scientists detected an FRB with 21 pulses lasting milliseconds from an ancient galaxy, challenging previous theories about their origins.
– Unusual Galaxy: The FRB came from a 'dead' galaxy, which is no longer producing stars. This is a unique finding, as FRBs were previously thought to originate from younger galaxies with active star formation. –
Distance and Age: The FRB's source was traced to a massive, 11.3-billion-year-old galaxy located two billion light-years away from Earth.
Massive Galaxy: The host galaxy is extremely luminous and massive, with a mass 100 billion times that of the Sun, making it the most massive galaxy found to host an FRB.
Possible Magnetar Connection: While FRBs are generally believed to come from magnetars (dying stars with powerful magnetic fields), no young stars were found in this galaxy, suggesting that the origin might be different.
Challenging Theories: The discovery questions the current understanding of FRBs, which were assumed to be associated with young, active star-forming galaxies. It indicates that FRBs could also come from older or "dead" systems.
Outlier Event: This FRB is an outlier compared to other detected FRBs, as it is located far from the galaxy's center and in a region where no new stars are forming, raising new questions about the phenomenon’s true causes.