Astronomers at Australia’s Curtin University have discovered a mysterious object that emits pulses every 44 minutes, detected just 15,000 light-years away in the Milky Way galaxy. The signal is unique because it comes in two forms: X-rays and radio waves. Researchers were lucky to coincide with NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, which also detected the same repeating signal in X-ray form.
The discovery belongs to a new class of space phenomena known as “long-period radio transients” (LPTs). These enigmatic pulses have unknown origins and occur at fixed intervals of minutes or hours. Only 10 other LPTs have been detected so far, but this latest finding is the first to be observed through X-ray telescopes.
Dr. Ziteng “Andy” Wang, lead author of a study on the discovery, said that finding the dual nature of LPTs was like searching for a needle in a haystack. The coincidence between the ASKAP radio telescope and Chandra’s observations helped researchers detect this rare phenomenon.
While scientists can’t say for sure what causes LPTs, they speculate that they may be associated with an “ultra-long-period magnetar.” However, further research is needed to understand these strange, slow pulses. The discovery is a significant breakthrough in understanding the mysteries of space, and astronomers are hopeful that it will shed more light on this enigmatic phenomenon.
Source: https://futurism.com/mysterious-object-radio-x-ray-pulses