---
title: "Powerful Radio Signal From Distant Galaxy Seems to Have a Pattern"
description: "A team of Cornell University researchers have spotted a fast radio signal source that pulses on an astonishingly regular 16-day cycle."
date: "2020-02-07"
modified: "2020-02-07"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/powerful-radio-signal-from-distant-galaxy-seems-to-have-a-pattern"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "Fast Radio Burst"
  - "fast radio bursts"
  - "the digest"
---

# Powerful Radio Signal From Distant Galaxy Seems to Have a Pattern

![A team of Cornell University researchers have spotted a fast radio signal source that pulses on an astonishingly regular 16-day cycle.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/scientists-detect-radio-sgnals-every-16-days.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: CHIME\</em\>*

## Way Way Out

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) have fascinated astronomers ever since they were first observed in 2007.

We've only started to understand these powerful signals and have yet to figure out their cause. Some have even [speculated](<https://futurism.com/category/space>) they could be signs of extraterrestrial life.

Now, [*Vice* reports](<https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wxexwz/something-in-deep-space-is-sending-signals-to-earth-in-steady-16-day-cycles>), a [new study](<https://arxiv.org/abs/2001.10275>) by Cornell University researchers has identified an FRB source about half a billion light years from Earth that pulses, ominously, on a regular 16-day cycle.

## Pattern Recognition

That makes it the first discovered FRB to be on a repeating schedule, according to the paper.

The team analyzed 28 bursts between September 2018 and October 2019 recorded by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment Fast Radio Burst Project (CHIME/FRB), a radio telescope in British Columbia, Canada.

## The Mystery Remains

Scientists have a number of ideas as to what may be causing the regular cycle. The signal could be coming from an orbiting object, for instance, that only sends signals at a certain point in its orbit.

It could also be coming from a binary star system made up of a massive star and a highly magnetized star, as outlined in a [different study](<https://arxiv.org/pdf/2002.01920.pdf>) published on *arXiv*.

**READ MORE:** [Something in Deep Space Is Sending Signals to Earth in Steady 16-Day Cycles](<https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wxexwz/something-in-deep-space-is-sending-signals-to-earth-in-steady-16-day-cycles>) \[*Vice*\]

**More on fast radio bursts:** *[Astronomers Detect Eight New Potential Alien Signals](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/eight-repeating-fast-radio-bursts-alien-signals>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)