Mysterious radio burst in space tracked to Milky Way

For the first time, scientists have detected a Fast Radio Burst (FRB) that came from inside our own Milky Way galaxy.

The brilliant flashes of energy last for only a fraction of a second and their source has puzzled astronomers since an FRB was first discovered in 2007.

For years, the mysterious radio signals triggered speculation they could be from an alien world.

Now researchers report that in April they detected FRBs from within our own galaxy, for the first time.

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But their source is more 'zombie' than alien.

The radio pulses - the closest ones observed to Earth - have been tracked to a magnetar, known as SGR 1935+2154.

Magnetars have huge magnetic fields stronger than 100 trillion refrigerator magnets, according to NASA.

Scientists believe they can trigger energy that then shocks their surroundings. This can cause massive emissions at radio and other wavelengths.

But SGR 1935+2154 is essentially a 'zombie' magnetar, with a decaying magnetic field that may have triggered the FRB detected earlier this year, the study said.

"There's this great mystery as to what would produce these great outbursts of energy, which until now we've seen coming from halfway across the universe," Kiyoshi Masui, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology physics professor and one of the researchers, told The Independent.

"This is the first time we've been able to tie one of these exotic fast radio bursts to a single astrophysical object."

The study, published in the journal Nature, was reported by two independent radio telescope facilities in North America.