Employees of the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) discovered a circular
Fast radio burstsfast radio bursts, FRB) are the brightest and most mysterious radio bursts in the Universe. The estimated energy equivalent of a single FRB event is compared to the energy produced by the Sun over the course of an entire day, month, or even year.
Since astronomers detected the first FRB in 2007, scientists have discovered more than 600 sources of such bursts. Less than 5% of all FRBs are considered recurrent, and only 10 of these are considered active.
Polarization analysis contains important informationabout the internal properties of FRBs and their environment. Many common light sources, including incandescent light bulbs and most stars such as our Sun, emit unpolarized light. Linear polarization is found in almost all repeating FRBs. However, the circular one is found quite rarely. Only one FRB with this polarization has previously been reported, namely FRB20201124A.
Artist's impression of FAST detecting circular polarization from two active repeating FRBs.
Credit: Science Bulletin, DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2022.11.014
Using FAST data, Chinese astronomersdiscovered circular polarization not only for FRB20121102A, but also for bursts 20190520B and 20201124A. Scientists concluded that it is characteristic of repeating FRBs.
Further systematic and preciseCharacterizing polarization using FAST will allow us to learn more about the mechanism of FRB emission and, ultimately, about the origin of these mysterious phenomena in our Universe.
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