Scientists SOLVE the mystery of 'alien' signal received from outer space
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Scientists have finally discovered the mysterious origins of an 'alien' signal received from outer space. In 2022, a radio telescope detected a burst of energy coming from a galaxy about 200 million light-years from Earth. Although the burst only lasted milliseconds, it contained enough energy to outshine entire galaxies and was theorised to have been a signal from an advanced alien civilisation.
![[Researchers believe this powerful signal originated from within the magnetic fields surrounding a neutron star, the ultra-dense remains of a dead star. As this burst passed through gases in another galaxy it split into multiple paths (illustrated) causing the signal to flicker in brightness]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/02/09/93667713-14243231-Researchers_believe_this_powerful_signal_originated_from_within_-a-5_1735811747056.jpg)
Now, scientists from MIT have discovered that this 'fast radio burst' (FRB) originated from a small area extremely close to a rotating neutron star, the ultra-dense remains of a dead sun. The researchers argue that the burst must have come from the layer of powerful magnetic fields surrounding the star known as the magnetosphere.
![[The signal was detected by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (pictured). By looking at how the signal flickered, researchers calculated that it must have emerged from a region no larger than 10,000 km (6,200 miles) across]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/02/09/93666375-14243231-image-a-4_1735810918968.jpg)
Although thousands of FRBs have been detected, this is the first time that astronomers have been able to pin down the origin of one of these mysterious signals. Co-author Professor Kiyoshi Masui says: 'Around these highly magnetic neutron stars, also known as magnetars, atoms can't exist — they would just get torn apart by the magnetic fields.
![[The researchers argue that the burst would have come from the magnetic fields within hundreds of thousands of kilometres of a neutron star. This is the first evidence that a neutron star's magnetosphere (illustrated) is capable of releasing a fast radio burst.]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/02/09/93666369-14243231-This_is_the_first_evidence_that_the_powerful-a-6_1735811874836.jpg)
'The exciting thing here is, we find that the energy stored in those magnetic fields, close to the source, is twisting and reconfiguring such that it can be released as radio waves that we can see halfway across the universe.'. Scientists have revealed the origin of a mysterious 'fast radio burst' signal (illustrated) which arrived from space in 2022. Although the signal only lasted two milliseconds it briefly outshone some galaxies.
![[Scientists searching for fast radio bursts (FRBs) that some believe may be signals sent from aliens may be happening every second. The blue points in this artist's impression of the filamentary structure of galaxies are signals from FRBs]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/09/22/09/449501AA00000578-4909344-The_blue_points_in_this_artist_s_impression_of_the_filamentary_s-a-5_1506069693731.jpg)
