A mystery object spinning through space is spotted by astronomers

Virgin Radio

27 Jan 2022, 10:48

Credit: Getty

Credit: Getty

Researchers say it is unlike anything they have ever seen before.

A peculiar object has been spotted floating through Space by astronomers who say it is unlike anything they have seen before.

The item appears to let out a large burst of energy three times every hour as it spins through Space.

According to researchers, for minute every twenty minutes, the object lets out a beam of radiation, making it momentarily one of the brightest things in the sky.

Their theory is that the object may be a neutron star or a white dwarf (a collapsed core of stars) that has an ultra-magnetic field.

In an article for ITV, astrophysicist Dr. Natasha Hurley-Walker from the Curtin University, International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) in Australia, said she led the team that made the discovery.

She explained: “This object was appearing and disappearing over a few hours during our observations.

“That was completely unexpected. It was kind of spooky for an astronomer because there’s nothing known in the sky that does that. And it’s really quite close to us – about 4,000 lightyears away. It’s in our galactic backyard.”

Credit: ICRAR/PA

<em>Credit: ICRAR/PA</em>

She added the object matches a description of an “ultra-long period magnetar”, which is a slow spinning neutron star that has only been predicted to exist in theory.

She said: “Nobody expected to directly detect one like this, because we didn’t expect them to be so bright.

“Somehow it’s converting magnetic energy to radio waves much more effectively than anything we’ve seen before.”

The object was first identified by a Curtin University Honour student Tyrone O’Doherty using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) telescope in the outback of Australia using a new technique he created.

He said: “It’s exciting that the source I identified last year has turned out to be such a peculiar object.”

The thing that makes it so strange is the way it turns on and off, and researchers are now keeping an eye on it to see if it switches back on at all.

The next step is to search for something similar in the archives of the MWA to see whether this is a one-off or part of something astronomers just haven’t noticed before.

All findings are published in the Nature journal.

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