Fast radio bursts have fascinated astronomers since they were first discovered in 2007.
We have just begun to receive these powerful signals and have not yet figured out what triggers them. Some scientists even speculate that they may be signs of extraterrestrial life.
A new study by scientists at Cornell University has identified the source of a radio signal about half a billion light-years from Earth that pulses in a regular 16-day cycle.
This makes it the first detected radio burst to be repeated.
Scientists have a number of ideas as to what might be causing the regular cycle. The signal can come from, for example, an orbiting object that sends signals only at a certain point in its orbit.
The source of the signal could also be a binary star system consisting of a massive star and a highly magnetized star, as outlined in a study published on arXiv.
