Latest news with #ElenaShablovinskaia
Gizmodo
3 days ago
- Science
- Gizmodo
This Bright Dot May Be an Entirely New Type of Space Object
At first, the dot looked like any other star. Then the astrophysicists switched to polarized light and found themselves looking at an entirely unexpected sight. 'Everything else disappeared, even the bright central black hole, and only this little dot remained,' Elena Shablovinskaia, an astrophysicist at Universidad Diego Portales in Chile and the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Germany, told Gizmodo. Shablovinskaia's team believes they've discovered an entirely new kind of space object, which they've dubbed 'Punctum.' Like its name, Latin for 'point' or 'dot,' Punctum is a compact, bright splotch of light in space—but it's only visible at millimeter wavelengths and harbors an unusually organized magnetic field. A paper on Punctum has been accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics and is currently available on arXiv. The team wanted to show that Punctum is simply an unusual example of a known phenomenon, such as a magnetar or a supernova remnant. NGC 4945, where Punctum lives, is a nearby galaxy known for hosting an active population of baby stars—so it made sense to assume Punctum was one of them. After all, NGC 4945 resides so close to the Milky Way that astrophysicists thought they had a solid grasp of the galaxy. We couldn't have missed something 'hiding in plain sight,' as Shablovinskaia put it…could we? But the more they tried to force Punctum into established astrophysical wisdom, the more it seemed to defy it. For example, Punctum disappeared when the team checked the same region using X-ray or radio telescopes, appearing only in the millimeter spectrum with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). ALMA's ability to capture polarized light also revealed Punctum's weird magnetic field to the scientists, adding to its mystery. Astronomers Calculate Universe's Age With Atacama Desert Telescope 'So we compared its brightness, polarization, and spectrum to every extreme object we could think of—magnetars, pulsars, star-forming regions, and black hole jets,' Shablovinskaia recalled. 'Nothing matched.' But accepting that they'd struck something entirely new only raised more questions. What exactly is it? Where does Punctum—10,000 to 100,000 times brighter than magnetars and 10 to 100 times brighter than most supernovas—get its light? Could it be connected to a black hole or a neutron star? For Shablovinskaia, the best shot at finding the answer might be to investigate Punctum's strange polarization, 'basically a fingerprint of the magnetic environment,' she said. After all, the disturbingly neat alignment of the light waves around Punctum was what alerted the team to the object's weirdness. 'Usually, when light is produced in cosmic environments, it comes out mixed and disordered because the magnetic fields are tangled,' she explained. 'If we can measure [Punctum's magnetic field] at more wavelengths or watch how it changes over time, we can start to figure out what powers Punctum and whether it links to known astrophysical objects.' 'Punctum shows us the universe can still surprise us in places we thought we understood well,' Shablovinskaia said. 'For me, it's a reminder that astronomy is far from finished; we're still just beginning to discover the full variety of cosmic objects out there.' The new research marks another strong example of multi-messenger astronomy, in which astronomers use different kinds of signals to investigate a single source. Recently, astronomers found an ultramassive black hole using gravitational lensing. In this case, the scientists studied a specific behavior of light—polarization—alongside more conventional methods to double-check their results.
Yahoo
14-08-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists may have found a powerful new space object: 'It doesn't fit comfortably into any known category'
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A bewilderingly powerful mystery object found in a nearby galaxy and only visible so far in millimeter radio wavelengths could be a brand new astrophysical object unlike anything astronomers have seen before. The object has been named 'Punctum,' derived from the Latin pūnctum meaning "point" or "dot," by a team of astronomers led by Elena Shablovinskaia of the Instituto de Estudios Astrofísicos at the Universidad Diego Portales in Chile. Shablovinskaia discovered it using ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. "Outside of the realm of supermassive black holes, Punctum is genuinely powerful,' Shablovinskaia told Astronomers don't know what it is yet — only that it is compact, has a surprisingly structured magnetic field, and, at its heart, is an object radiating intense amounts of energy. "When you put it into context, Punctum is astonishingly bright — 10,000 to 100,000 times more luminous than typical magnetars, around 100 times brighter than microquasars, and 10 to 100 times brighter than nearly every known supernova, with only the Crab Nebula surpassing it among star-related sources in our galaxy," Shablovinskaia said. Punctum is located in the active galaxy NGC 4945, which is a fairly close neighbor of our Milky Way galaxy, located 11 million light-years away. That's just beyond the confines of the Local Group. Yet, despite this proximity, it cannot be seen in optical or X-ray light but rather only millimeter radio wavelengths. This has only deepened the mystery, although the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has yet to take a look at the object in near- and mid-infrared wavelengths. What could Punctum be? Its brightness remained the same over several observations performed in 2023, meaning it is not a flare or some other kind of transitory phenomenon. Millimeter-wave radiation typically comes from cold objects such as young protoplanetary disks and interstellar molecular clouds. However, very energetic phenomena such as quasars and pulsars can also produce radio waves through synchrotron radiation, wherein charged particles moving at close to the speed of light spiral around magnetic field lines and radiate radio waves. What we do know about Punctum is that based on how strongly polarized its millimeter light is, it must possess a highly structured magnetic field. And so, Shablovinskaia believes what we are seeing from Punctum is synchrotron radiation. Objects with strong polarization tend to be compact objects, because larger objects have messy magnetic fields that wash out any polarization. Perhaps that synchrotron radiation is being powered by a magnetar, the team believes, which is a highly magnetic pulsar. However, while a magnetar's ordered magnetic field fits the bill, magnetars (and regular pulsars for that matter) are much fainter at millimeter wavelengths than Punctum is. Supernova remnants such as the Crab Nebula, which is the messy innards blasted into space of a star that exploded in 1054AD, are bright at millimeter wavelengths. The trouble is that supernova remnants are quite large — the Crab Nebula itself is about 11 light-years across — whereas Punctum is clearly a much smaller, compact object. "At the moment, Punctum truly stands apart — it doesn't fit comfortably into any known category," said Shablovinskaia. "And honestly, nothing like this has appeared in any previous millimeter surveys, largely because, until recently, we didn't have anything as sensitive and high-resolution as ALMA." There is the caveat that Punctum could just be an outlier: an extreme version of an otherwise familiar object, such as a magnetar in an unusual environment, or a supernova remnant interacting with dense material. For now, though, these are just guesses lacking supporting evidence. It is quite possible that Punctum is indeed the first of a new kind of astrophysical object that we haven't seen before simply because only ALMA can detect them. In the case of Punctum, it is 100 times fainter than NGC 4945's active nucleus that is being energized by a supermassive black hole feeding on infalling matter. Punctum probably wouldn't have been noticed at all in the ALMA data if it wasn't for its exceptionally strong polarization. Further observations with ALMA will certainly help shed more light on what kind of object Punctum is. The observations that discovered Punctum were actually focused on NGC 4945's bright active core; it was just happenstance that Punctum was noticed in the field of view. Future ALMA observations targeting Punctum instead would be able to go to much lower noise levels without worrying about the galaxy's bright core being over-exposed, and it could also be observed across different frequencies. The greatest help could potentially come from the JWST. If it can see an infrared counterpart, then its greater resolution could help identify what Punctum is. "JWST's sharp resolution and broad spectral range might help reveal whether Punctum's emission is purely synchrotron or involves dust or emission lines," said Shablovinskaia. For now, it's all ifs and buts, and all we can say for sure is that astronomers have a genuine mystery on their hands that has so far left them feeling flummoxed. "In any case," concluded Shablovinskaia, "Punctum is showing us that there is still a lot to discover in the millimeter sky.' A paper describing the discovery of Punctum has been accepted by the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, and a pre-print is available on Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
12-08-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists may have found a powerful new space object: 'It doesn't fit comfortably into any known category'
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A bewilderingly powerful mystery object found in a nearby galaxy and only visible so far in millimeter radio wavelengths could be a brand new astrophysical object unlike anything astronomers have seen before. The object has been named 'Punctum,' derived from the Latin pūnctum meaning "point" or "dot," by a team of astronomers led by Elena Shablovinskaia of the Instituto de Estudios Astrofísicos at the Universidad Diego Portales in Chile. Shablovinskaia discovered it using ALMA, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array. "Outside of the realm of supermassive black holes, Punctum is genuinely powerful,' Shablovinskaia told Astronomers don't know what it is yet — only that it is compact, has a surprisingly structured magnetic field, and, at its heart, is an object radiating intense amounts of energy. "When you put it into context, Punctum is astonishingly bright — 10,000 to 100,000 times more luminous than typical magnetars, around 100 times brighter than microquasars, and 10 to 100 times brighter than nearly every known supernova, with only the Crab Nebula surpassing it among star-related sources in our galaxy," Shablovinskaia said. Punctum is located in the active galaxy NGC 4945, which is a fairly close neighbor of our Milky Way galaxy, located 11 million light-years away. That's just beyond the confines of the Local Group. Yet, despite this proximity, it cannot be seen in optical or X-ray light but rather only millimeter radio wavelengths. This has only deepened the mystery, although the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has yet to take a look at the object in near- and mid-infrared wavelengths. What could Punctum be? Its brightness remained the same over several observations performed in 2023, meaning it is not a flare or some other kind of transitory phenomenon. Millimeter-wave radiation typically comes from cold objects such as young protoplanetary disks and interstellar molecular clouds. However, very energetic phenomena such as quasars and pulsars can also produce radio waves through synchrotron radiation, wherein charged particles moving at close to the speed of light spiral around magnetic field lines and radiate radio waves. What we do know about Punctum is that based on how strongly polarized its millimeter light is, it must possess a highly structured magnetic field. And so, Shablovinskaia believes what we are seeing from Punctum is synchrotron radiation. Objects with strong polarization tend to be compact objects, because larger objects have messy magnetic fields that wash out any polarization. Perhaps that synchrotron radiation is being powered by a magnetar, the team believes, which is a highly magnetic pulsar. However, while a magnetar's ordered magnetic field fits the bill, magnetars (and regular pulsars for that matter) are much fainter at millimeter wavelengths than Punctum is. Supernova remnants such as the Crab Nebula, which is the messy innards blasted into space of a star that exploded in 1054AD, are bright at millimeter wavelengths. The trouble is that supernova remnants are quite large — the Crab Nebula itself is about 11 light-years across — whereas Punctum is clearly a much smaller, compact object. "At the moment, Punctum truly stands apart — it doesn't fit comfortably into any known category," said Shablovinskaia. "And honestly, nothing like this has appeared in any previous millimeter surveys, largely because, until recently, we didn't have anything as sensitive and high-resolution as ALMA." There is the caveat that Punctum could just be an outlier: an extreme version of an otherwise familiar object, such as a magnetar in an unusual environment, or a supernova remnant interacting with dense material. For now, though, these are just guesses lacking supporting evidence. It is quite possible that Punctum is indeed the first of a new kind of astrophysical object that we haven't seen before simply because only ALMA can detect them. In the case of Punctum, it is 100 times fainter than NGC 4945's active nucleus that is being energized by a supermassive black hole feeding on infalling matter. Punctum probably wouldn't have been noticed at all in the ALMA data if it wasn't for its exceptionally strong polarization. Further observations with ALMA will certainly help shed more light on what kind of object Punctum is. The observations that discovered Punctum were actually focused on NGC 4945's bright active core; it was just happenstance that Punctum was noticed in the field of view. Future ALMA observations targeting Punctum instead would be able to go to much lower noise levels without worrying about the galaxy's bright core being over-exposed, and it could also be observed across different frequencies. The greatest help could potentially come from the JWST. If it can see an infrared counterpart, then its greater resolution could help identify what Punctum is. "JWST's sharp resolution and broad spectral range might help reveal whether Punctum's emission is purely synchrotron or involves dust or emission lines," said Shablovinskaia. For now, it's all ifs and buts, and all we can say for sure is that astronomers have a genuine mystery on their hands that has so far left them feeling flummoxed. "In any case," concluded Shablovinskaia, "Punctum is showing us that there is still a lot to discover in the millimeter sky.' A paper describing the discovery of Punctum has been accepted by the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, and a pre-print is available on Solve the daily Crossword
