The Cosmic Savannah Ep. 40 - The Mystery of the Fast Radio Burst

Hosted by Dr. Jacinta Delhaize & Dr. Daniel Cunnama.   In this episode, we speak with Dr. Marisa Geyer. She is a pulsar astronomer and Commissioning Scientist at the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) in Cape Town, South Africa. Marisa tells us what it’s like to be a commissioning scientist for the MeerKAT telescope. She also explains her research on pulsars and mysterious Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs). FRBs are sudden, bright flashes of radio light. Usually they only appear once and then are never seen again.   The mystery is that we don’t know what is causing these bursts of light! All we know is it’s something powerful, and probably something very far away. Marisa talks us through the mystery and reveals some enticing clues about what might be causing FRBs. Hint: it involves something called a magnetar!   We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.  Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!  Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.  Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at [email protected].