---
title: "Astronomers Detect Eight New Potential Alien Signals"
description: "Astronomers have reported finding eight new repeating fast radio bursts, potential alien signals, brining the total number of known repeaters up to 10."
date: "2019-08-14"
modified: "2019-08-14"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/eight-repeating-fast-radio-bursts-alien-signals"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "alien"
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Fast Radio Burst"
  - "the digest"
---

# Astronomers Detect Eight New Potential Alien Signals

![Astronomers have reported finding eight new repeating fast radio bursts, potential alien signals, brining the total number of known repeaters up to 10.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/astronomers-eight-potential-alien-signals.jpg>)
*Image Credit: NASA \<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Fast Radio Bursts

In 2007, astronomers discovered a high-energy radio signal emanating from far beyond our galaxy. And because it turned up for no obvious reason, some academics [began speculating](<https://futurism.com/category/space>) that the signal could've been a message from an alien civilization.

Scientists have [detected dozens](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/alien-radio-signals-common>) of fast radio bursts (FRBs) since then, but [only twice](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/fast-radio-bursts-repeating>) did they notice multiple signals coming from a single source. Now, however, astronomers [have reported](<https://www.sciencealert.com/astronomers-have-bagged-a-jaw-dropping-haul-of-eight-new-repeating-fast-radio-bursts>) finding *eight* new repeating FRBs — a discovery that could help us understand the strange phenomenon.

## Perfect Ten

The international team of astronomers behind the discovery, which is detailed in a [newly published paper](<https://arxiv.org/abs/1908.03507>) on the pre-print server *arXiv*, detected the repeating FRBs using the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment radio telescope.

Six of the newly discovered FRBs repeated only once. Another pinged three times in total — but the eighth produced 10 total bursts.

## New Clues

In addition to dramatically increasing the number of known repeating FRBs, the team's research also provides new information on both the duration of FRBs — repeaters seem to last longer than one-off signals — and their frequency drift, with most of the new repeaters drifting downward.

"\[T\]here is a lot of information here for model builders to work with," researcher Ziggy Pleunis told *Science Alert*. "I think it will help them figure out what produces repeating FRBs. Also, I think our findings will influence the search strategy of other teams that try to discover repeating FRBs."

**READ MORE:** [Astronomers Have Detected a Whopping 8 New Repeating Signals From Deep Space](<https://www.sciencealert.com/astronomers-have-bagged-a-jaw-dropping-haul-of-eight-new-repeating-fast-radio-bursts>) \[*Science Alert*\]

**More on fast radio bursts:** *[Fast Radio Bursts Could Be Signs of Alien Life — and We Just Found 13 More of Them](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/fast-radio-bursts-repeating>)*

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)