Latest news with #cosmicphenomenon
The Independent
3 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Something is flashing at us from space – and scientists have no idea what it is
Scientists have been left stunned by a mysterious, regular signal that is flashing at us from deep in space. The new type of cosmic phenomenon has only become more mysterious with further examination, scientists say. The object in question is known as ASKAP J1832-0911 and sends out pulses of radio waves and X-rays. It does so on a regular schedule: for two minutes, every 44 minutes. It was found with an Australian telescope that spotted radio signals coming from a specific part of space. Nasa's Chandra X-ray Observatory was coincidentally looking at that same part of space – and found that the object was emitting X-rays as well as radio pulses. It is the first time that one of these mysterious objects, known as an LPT, has been spotted sending out X-rays as well as radio signals. The researchers on a new study say that the object is 'unlike anything we have seen before' and that it could be an unknown kind of object or even a new type of physics. LPTs, or long-period transients, were first found in 2022, and researchers have spotted ten of them since. They send out radio pulses in regular bursts that are minutes or hours apart. Researchers don't know what the object at the heart of them might be. There is no explanation for either what the signal is or why it is flashing in such a regular way. 'This object is unlike anything we have seen before,' Dr Ziteng (Andy) Wang from Curtin University. 'ASKAP J1831-0911 could be a magnetar (the core of a dead star with powerful magnetic fields), or it could be a pair of stars in a binary system where one of the two is a highly magnetised white dwarf (a low-mass star at the end of its evolution).' 'However, even those theories do not fully explain what we are observing. This discovery could indicate a new type of physics or new models of stellar evolution.' Scientists hope that the discovery that the object is emitting X-rays too could help give some insight on where the signals are coming from and how they work. The work is reported in a new paper, 'Detection of X-ray Emission from a Bright Long-Period Radio Transient', published in the journal Nature.
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Are aliens trying to contact Earth? Scientists are BAFFLED by a mysterious cosmic object emitting radio waves AND X-rays
In the dark realms of space, about 14,700 light-years away from our planet, an unusual object is doing something unexpected. A cosmic entity called ASKAP J1832-0911 is emitting joint pulses of radio waves and X-rays for two minutes every 44 minutes. This is the first time an object like this, called a long-period transient (LPT), has been detected emitting X-rays. Currently, there is no clear explanation for what causes these signals, or why they 'switch on' and 'switch off' at such long, regular and unusual intervals. Experts admit even their best theories do not account for what they're seeing, as it challenges the rules of physics. And they said it could mean ASKAP J1832-0911 is an entirely new class of object that humans have never detected before. The cosmic phenomenon is located deep in the Galactic Plane, in a region that is densely filled with stars, gas and dust. 'This object is unlike anything we have seen before,' Dr Andy Wang, from Curtin University in Australia. His team discovered the phenomenon by using the ASKAP radio telescope on Wajarri Country in Australia, owned and operated by Australia's national science agency, CSIRO. They correlated the radio signals with X-ray pulses detected by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, which was coincidentally observing the same part of the sky. 'Discovering that ASKAP J1832-0911 was emitting X-rays felt like finding a needle in a haystack,' Dr Wang said. '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.' LPTs, which emit radio pulses that occur minutes or hours apart, are a relatively recent discovery. Since their first detection by researchers in 2022, a total of 10 have been discovered by astronomers across the world. 'ASKAP J1831-0911 could be a magnetar - the core of a dead star with powerful magnetic fields - or it could be a pair of stars in a binary system where one of the two is a highly magnetised white dwarf - a low-mass star at the end of its evolution,' Dr Wang explained. 'However, even those theories do not fully explain what we are observing. 'This discovery could indicate a new type of physics or new models of stellar evolution. 'What makes this more interesting is that the X-ray also follows the same 44-minute cycle. 'This object currently does not match any known sources in our galaxy, so we need further observations to help us pin down what exactly is going on.' The finding also helps narrow down what the objects might be, the team said. Since X-rays are much higher energy than radio waves, any theory must account for both types of emission – a valuable clue, given their nature remains a cosmic mystery. So far, ASKAP J1832-0911 is the only LPT detected with an X-ray signal. The X-ray pulses offer direct evidence of compact object characteristics, while the radio waves point to an organised and structured magnetic field, the researchers explained. Second author Professor Nanda Rea, from the Institute of Space Science and Catalan Institute for Space studies in Spain, added: 'Finding one such object hints at the existence of many more. 'The discovery of its transient X-ray emission opens fresh insights into their mysterious nature.' WHAT ARE NEUTRON STARS? Neutron stars are the collapsed, burnt-out cores of dead stars. When large stars reach the end of their lives, their core will collapse, blowing off the outer layers of the star. This leaves an extremely dense object known as a neutron star, which squashes more mass than is contained in the sun into the size of a city. A neutron star typically would have a mass that's perhaps half-a-million times the mass of the Earth, but they're only about 20 kilometres (12 miles) across. A handful of material from this star would weigh as much as Mount Everest. They are very hot, perhaps a million degrees, highly radioactive, and have incredibly intense magnetic fields. This makes them arguably the most hostile environments in the Universe today, according to Professor Patrick Sutton, head of Cardiff University's gravitational physics department. The dense objects, in particular their cores, are key to our understanding of the universe's heavy elements.
