Fast Radio Burst (FRB) Dispersion

This animation shows how the signals from fast radio bursts (FRBs) become dispersed as they travel through clouds of gas around and between galaxies.

As the radio signals pass through these gas clouds, the longer, redder wavelengths travel more slowly than the shorter, bluer wavelengths, with denser regions creating more dispersion (and more of a rainbow of wavelengths as shown in the artwork). Pulses passing through regions with clumpier matter (left panel) are therefore likely to show a wider range of dispersion patterns than pulses passing through a more diffuse medium (right panel).

A new study of FRB detections is consistent with a less clumpy medium filling the spaces between galaxies (right panel), indicating that feedback processes within galaxies, such as black hole winds and supernovae, are moderately smoothing the matter around them, making it less clumpy.

More info: https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/fast-radio-bursts-poised-to-help-with-biggest-cosmic-mysteries

This animation was created without generative AI, in collaboration with researchers to ensure technical accuracy.

Credit: Caltech/Robert Hurt (IPAC - SELab)