An arxiv article, published suspiciously close to April 1st, recently pointed out that fast-radio-bursts (FRBs), a unique type of signal detected by radio telescopes, might be a message from the intelligent denizens of extra-galactic space. ETs or not, the study’s authors indicted that they looked only at bona fide FRBs, not their near identical twin, the (entirely more suspect) Perytons.
The astrophysical term “Peryton” was coined by Sarah Burke-Spolaor in 2011. After the discovery of the first FRB in 2007 by Duncan Lorimer and Maura McLaughlin, Dr. Burke-Spolaor searched through old telescope data looking for similar signals. She immediately found what she was looking for, with a small difference. The 16 signals that she found seemed to fill the entire patch of the sky visible to the telescope. The lack of directionality in the new signals led Burke-Spolaor to the considerations that the signals were man-made and of earth-bound origin. She called the newly found signals Perytons. The Peryton is a mythological figure, a winged elk that casts the shadow of a human. The literary interpretation, “strangeness made by man,” is super-cool and turned out to be very apt!
A Peryton as portrayed in “Walt Disney Treasury: Donald Duck Vol. 1 – Page 11”
Last week, a mere 10 days after the ET-positing FRB study, the origin of the Perytons was found. Burke-Spolaor, Emily Petroff and several other authors published a study showing that Perytons had far less to do with ETs and far more to do with, well, lunchtime.
Two of the Astronomers who Tracked the Elusive Perytons.
A histogram of the hour of the day that each Peryton (lavender) and FRB (blue) was detected begins to tell the story:
The research team tested the hypothesis that the Perytons were terrestrial in origin by turning on the microwave ovens located within a 1 km radius of the telescope. Microwaves create radiation at frequencies similar to the ones found in Peryton signals. The first experiments were inconclusive. Although the ovens were turned on and off several times, only one Peryton was found. In the final series of experiments, the researchers varied an additional parameter by doing the thing your mother always told you not to do: they opened the microwave door while it was running. Perytons burst through the opened microwave door about 50% of the time!
ETs might still be out there, but they’re not sending Perytons.
(top image via Wikimedia Commons)
Hamilton Carter’s childhood dreams of becoming an archeologist/novelist/ physicist/adventurer morphed into his present-day life as a dad/science writer/physics grad student/electronics engineer, which is to say he’s accomplished all his life goals to date. As a kid, his love of comic books and sci-fi led him to science. He built a cyclotron in high school while hanging out with classmates who built linacs, Tesla coils, and linacs powered by Tesla coils. Having grown up in the mountains of south-central New Mexico, he enjoys hiking and camping with his family anytime he gets anywhere near a mountain. For now though, he is leading a delightfully happy—albeit hot and humid—life studying physics at Texas A&M University. You canfind him on G+, or read about his ongoing shenanigans athttp://copaseticflow.blogspot.com/.
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