army judge
Super Moderator
Something in Deep Space (15,000 Light Years Away from Earth) Flashes Every 44 Minutes and No One Knows Why or What Is Flashing!
An image of the sky showing the region around ASKAP J1832-0911. X-rays from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, radio data from the South African MeerKAT radio telescope, and infrared data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (Credit: Ziteng (Andy) Wang, ICRAR)
In a nutshell
- Scientists discovered the first long-period radio transient that also emits X-rays, creating an entirely new class of cosmic objects
- ASKAP J1832−0911 pulses every 44.2 minutes with both radio waves and X-rays, something that wasn't supposed to be possible
- The object could be either an ancient magnetar or an ultra-magnetized white dwarf system, both of which challenge current theories
PERTH — Something deep in the Milky Way is pulsing like clockwork, and no one knows what it is. Every 44 minutes, a mysterious space object nearly 15,000 light-years away sends out a blast of radio waves and high-energy X-rays, defying everything astronomers thought they knew about how stars behave. It's not a pulsar, not a black hole, and not quite like anything we've ever seen before. Now, scientists say this bizarre cosmic beacon might be rewriting the rulebook on extreme stellar physics.
For the first time, astronomers from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) have found what's known as a long-period radio transient that also emits X-rays — something that had never been observed before and wasn't predicted by existing models. This discovery of ASKAP J1832−0911, published in Nature, introduces a new class of celestial object and calls into question long-standing assumptions in astrophysics.
Long-period radio transients (LPTs) were already baffling because they pulse thousands of times more slowly than standard pulsars, which are essentially the cosmic lighthouses that sweep beams across space. To put it in perspective, typical pulsars flash radio signals every few milliseconds. Scientists say the extraordinary energy involved in this new discovery is unprecedented in our galaxy.
An Object That Defies Expectations
Located 14,700 light years away, ASKAP J1832−0911 first appeared on astronomers' radar in December 2023 using the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder telescope. When it lit up, the radio signal was unusually intense, peaking at 1,870 milliJansky, making it one of the brightest radio transients ever detected.But the real surprise came in February 2024 when NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory observed the same patch of sky. It detected X-ray pulses with the same 44.2-minute period, and both signals appear to come from the same source.
Even stranger: this object doesn't shine steadily. During its active phase in February, it was blasting out strong radio and X-ray signals. But by August, it had gone quiet, fading almost completely. This kind of extreme on-and-off behavior is rare and suggests something powerful is flipping a cosmic "switch" behind the scenes.
Scientists also found that the radio waves were highly structured, which is a clue that the object has an extremely strong and organized magnetic field — likely billions or even trillions of times stronger than Earth's.
"Discovering that ASKAP J1832-0911 was emitting X-rays felt like finding a needle in a haystack," said lead author Dr. Ziteng (Andy) Wang from the Curtin University node of ICRAR, in a statement. "The ASKAP radio telescope has a wide field view of the night sky, while Chandra observes only a fraction of it. So, it was fortunate that Chandra observed the same area of the night sky at the same time."
CSIRO's ASKAP radio telescope on Wajarri Yamaji Country in Australia. (Credit: CSIRO)
Something in Deep Space Is Flashing Every 44 Minutes and No One Knows Why
Every 44 minutes, a mysterious space object nearly 15,000 light-years away sends out a blast of radio waves and high-energy X-rays, defying everything astronomers thought they knew about how stars behave.
studyfinds.org
