https://www.sciencealert.com/a-gala...-something-shockingly-like-a-fast-radio-burst Exclusive: We Might Have First-Ever Detection of a Fast Radio Burst in Our Own Galaxy MICHELLE STARR 1 MAY 2020 A Milky Way magnetar called SGR 1935+2154 may have just massively contributed to solving the mystery of powerful deep-space radio signals that have vexed astronomers for years. On 28 April 2020, the dead star - sitting just 30,000 light-years away - was recorded by radio observatories around the world, seemingly flaring with a single, millisecond-long burst of incredibly bright radio waves that would have been detectable from another galaxy. In addition, global and space X-ray observatories recorded a very bright X-ray counterpart. Work on this event is very preliminary, with astronomers madly scrambling to analyse the swathes of data. But many seem in agreement that it could finally point to the source of fast radio bursts (FRBs). "This sort of, in most people's minds, settles the origin of FRBs as coming from magnetars," astronomer Shrinivas Kulkarni of Caltech, and member of one of the teams, the STARE2 survey that also detected the radio signal, told ScienceAlert. Fast radio bursts are one of the most fascinating mysteries in the cosmos. They are extremely powerful radio signals from deep space, galaxies millions of light-years away, some discharging more energy than 500 million Suns. Yet they last less than the blink of an eye - mere milliseconds in duration - and most of them don't repeat, making them very hard to predict, trace, and therefore understand. Potential explanations have ranged from supernovae to aliens (which, sorry, is extremely unlikely). But one possibility that has been picking up steam is that FRBs are produced by magnetars. more at link..... Interesting extract further down.... "But we also saw something else we've never seen in an extragalactic FRB, and that's the X-ray counterpart. These are quite common in magnetar outbursts, of course. In fact, it is far more normal for magnetars to emit X-ray and gamma radiation than radio waves."
