Astronomers have discovered a mysterious source of signals in space

The object was named ASKAP J1424 and was detected using an Australian radio telescope.

The main feature is its regular signals:

• one pulse about every 36 minutes
• a steady rhythm for a few days
• then the source goes silent

At the same time, the object has no visible analogue - it could not be detected either in the optical or infrared range.

Details

Scientists are considering several versions:

• unusual neutron star
• magnetic white dwarf
• a binary star system

But none of the hypotheses fully explains the observations so far.

Why it's important

Such objects are a new and understudied category of cosmic sources.

They may help us understand

• how extreme magnetic fields work
• what other processes are going on in the Universe
• whether there are unknown types of objects

So far, ASKAP J1424 remains a mystery. Scientists plan to continue observations to understand the nature of these strange signals.

Source

The study is published on the arXiv preprint server.