Desk Report
Publish: 31 Jan 2022, 09:30 pm
Unknown spinning object in the Milky Way || Photo: Collected
Australian scientists
say they have discovered an unknown spinning object in the Milky Way that they
claim is unlike anything seen before.
The object - first
discovered by a university student - has been observed to release a huge burst
of radio energy for a full minute every 18 minutes.
Objects that pulse
energy in the universe are often documented. But researchers say something that
turns on for a minute is highly unusual.
The team is working
to understand more.
The object was first
discovered by Curtin University Honours student Tyrone O'Doherty in a region of
the Western Australian outback known as the Murchison Widefield Array, using a
telescope and a new technique he had developed.
Mr O'Doherty was part
of a team led by astrophysicist Dr Natasha Hurley-Walker, from the Curtin
University node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research
(ICRAR).
"[It] was
appearing and disappearing over a few hours during our observations," she
was quoted as saying in a media release from ICRAR that documented the
discovery.
"That was
completely unexpected. It was kind of spooky for an astronomer because there's
nothing known in the sky that does that."
Objects that turn on
and off in the Universe are not new to astronomers—they call them
"transients".
But an object that
turned on for a full minute was "really weird," ICRAR-Curtin
astrophysicist Dr Gemma Anderson, was quoted as saying in the release.
ICRAR added that
after trawling back through years of data, the team was able to establish that
the object is about 4,000 light-years from Earth, is incredibly bright and has
an extremely strong magnetic field.
Theories around what
the object might be include a neutron star or a white dwarf - a term used for
the remnants of a collapsed star. However, much of the discovery remains a
mystery.
"More detections
will tell astronomers whether this was a rare one-off event or a vast new
population we'd never noticed before," Dr Hurley-Walker said. "I'm
looking forward to understanding this object and then extending the search to
find more."_BBC
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