Radio Signals in Space

Thought this was an interesting read. It's hard to wrap my mind around the idea of sound bursts traveling through space for billions of years!

Dozens of radio signals emanating from deep space have been discovered. These signals—known as fast radio bursts (FRBs)—were first discovered just over a decade ago and since then have posed a mystery for scientists studying them.

Radio Signals From Other Side of the Universe

a reply to: Skorpiogurl


Good find

I just can't get my head around the sheer scale of what they are talking about. 3.7billion odd light years I mean, good god that's a long way off and it certainly seems to go against the old 9billion year age of the Universe. maybe it is infinite after all?

a reply to: SprocketUK

The age of the universe is 13.8 billion years.

The most distant object observed is about 13.4 billion light-years away.

a reply to: SprocketUK

The universe is about 13.8 billion years old. So radio bursts from a galaxy 3.7 billion light years away doesn't go against that.

a reply to: SprocketUK

Even if their math is off, it's still mind numbing to think about.

Although we still have a pretty small understanding of space as it stands. Another finding just around the corner could force us to rethink how we approach comprehending the scope, and how we approach it with theory.

originally posted by: Skorpiogurl
Thought this was an interesting read. It's hard to wrap my mind around the idea of sound bursts traveling through space for billions of years!

Radio, not sound.

Thanks for posting.

a reply to: moebius
a reply to: watchitburn


Yeah, quite, I mixed up my ages/distances. See? told you it was brain frying, the sheer scale of it all. haha

a reply to: SprocketUK

Definitely very large distances. I might not be able to spit that far.

originally posted by: watchitburn
a reply to: SprocketUK

The universe is about 13.8 billion years old. So radio bursts from a galaxy 3.7 billion light years away doesn't go against that.

The universe is also constantly expanding, creating more distance between outlier systems and the theorized center where it started.

This could create distance in between two places during travel.

It makes me crazy to think about the scale of time and distance. My mind automatically thinks "Oh what could it be out there making sound" then I think... but it was billions of years ago so chances are whatever it was is gone? How would we ever know? They can perhaps pinpoint the area where it came from but how could we ever get there? This is kind of stuff that will drive me mad!

originally posted by: watchitburn
a reply to: SprocketUK

Definitely very large distances. I might not be able to spit that far.

as an example, playing Elite Dangerous, it took me a week each way to travel from earth to Sag A (galactic centre) in a ship that would jump 50ly at a time. (I think its something like 25kly from Earth, give or take) I got a great impression of the scale of our galaxy doing that, but this just boggles the mind utterly.

a reply to: SprocketUK

Of topic question from the OP but I've always wanted to play Elite Dangerous, is it worth it???

originally posted by: PurpleFox
a reply to: SprocketUK

Of topic question from the OP but I've always wanted to play Elite Dangerous, is it worth it???

Oh totally. I love it. started out on x box and moved to the pc version after a while.
(I played the original Elite back in the 80s) definitely worth your money but be careful, you can lose entire days in game

a reply to: SprocketUK

Have you heard of Star Citizen? Is the full release out yet?

a reply to: PurpleFox


check your PM's (I didn't wanna derail the thread anymore).

a reply to: moebius

In my understanding, age and distance need not correspond. If the universe is constantly expanding, distance between 2 objects also inherently expand. An object that is 3B LY away now, might not necessarily be that old. It could be just 2B LY old, but the universe has expanded by 1B LY in the 2B Years the signal took to reach us from that object.
Any physicist here who can throw light on this? (no pun intended!)