Scientists discover mysterious radio signal from within the Milky Way - close to Earth

Astronomers have detected a series of mysterious and extremely powerful radio waves coming from somewhere within our own galaxy.

It is not the first time the signals, known as Fast Radio Bursts, or FRBs, have been picked up by scientists, but they have never come from within the Milky Way before.

What causes the signals?

The blasts are very short, lasting less than a second, but in some cases can be millions of times more powerful than the Sun.

FRBs are not an entirely new phenomenon, having been first observed in 2007, but scientists have been able to learn more about them on this occasion because they have come from a source relatively close to Earth.

It is now thought that they could be caused by a type of neutron star called a magnetar.

Magnetars are incredibly dense and have a strong magnetic field, and scientists traced x-ray and gamma-ray emissions coming from one at the other side of our galaxy which is thought to have been the cause of these FRBs.