Top astrophysicist Duncan Lorimer says ‘universe is expanding’, lauds role of 2 Indians in studies on fast radio burst

NEW DELHI: World-renowned astrophysicist Prof Duncan Lorimer, who led the discovery of the first Fast Radio Burst (FRB) as among the brightest and most mysterious radio pulses in the universe, said here on Monday that the “universe is expanding” and that with “new and improved telescopes coming up in the US and Canada, we can find out more deep mysteries of this universe”.

A fast radio burst (FRB) is an intensely bright, millisecond-long flash of radio waves originating from deep space, often from billions of light-years away. These fleeting, high-energy events emit as much energy in a fraction of a second as the sun does over several weeks.

The first FRB was discovered by Lorimer and his student David Narkevic in 2007 when they were looking through archival pulsar survey data, and it is, therefore, commonly referred to as the ‘Lorimer burst’.

During a discussion on ‘The Brightest Pulses in the Universe’ at the PM Museum and Library (PMML), Nehru Planetarium here, Lorimer, a fellow of the Royal Society, and professor of physics and astronomy at West Virginia University, USA, lauded two Indian researchers and his colleagues— Shamil Chatterjee and Shriharsh Tendulkar — for playing significant roles in identifying the host galaxy and origin of repeating Fast Radio Bursts .

Duncan Lorimer and his wife Maura McLaughlin had received the Shaw Prize, described as the “Nobel Prize of the East”, for helping discover FRBs.

When TOI asked the astrophysicist of any possibility of aliens trying to contact humans from other parts of the universe through different radio frequencies, Lorimer said, “There is a possibility that some fractions of fast radio burst might have an unexpected phenomenon. If we dig deeper into the data as we get tens and thousands of signals, we might find some that are anonymous. There might be some components in future (with links to aliens). I might not have seen it directly till now.”

On the divided opinion of scientists about the real characteristics of alleged interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS that had entered the Milky Way galaxy last year, Lorimer stayed away from the controversy, saying, “I did not follow that story, so I don’t have an opinion on it.”

While interacting with students, Lorimer explained to them the origin and characteristics of neutron stars, deep holes and radio bursts from different galaxies.

Highlighting the significance of the event, Ashwani Lohani, director, PMML, said: “It is a great privilege for PMML and Nehru Planetarium to host Prof. Duncan Lorimer. This interaction is a wonderful opportunity for students, young researchers, and the wider public to engage directly with a scientist whose work has transformed our understanding of the universe. Such events inspire curiosity, scientific temper and a deeper appreciation of India’s growing engagement with global science.”

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