Mysterious pulses discovered in space has scientists puzzled: “This object is unlike anything we have seen before”

“This object is unlike anything we have seen before,” said Dr. Ziteng (Andy) Wang Dr. Andy Wang, the lead author on a new study detailing his team’s observations on a newly discovered class space objects published in Nature in late May.

The object was identified by the X-ray signal it emmits, which even with one of the most powerful radiotelescopes on Earth felt like “finding a needle in a haystack,” explained Dr. Wang.

The team was able to capture the radio signature of the object, which differed in pace from any objects captured before.

What is emitting these radio signals?

A study published in January called whatever is emitting these types of pulses “a new class of astrophysical objects,” called long-period radio transients. The defining feature of these objects, according to the researchers, “exhibits periodic radio emission on timescales of tens of minutes.”

Still no explanation, only theories

Various theories are put forward in the paper, from the object being a white dwarf, binary system, or long-period magnetars, all of which would be capable of giving off this signature.

One of these long-period radio transients is ASKAP J1832-0911, which is one of 10 objects of this new class that have been discovered since 2022 by the team at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR). A press release describing the achievement highlights that although the team has been able to identify ASKAP J1832-0911, “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.”

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