Astronomers Discover Mystery Cosmic Body Bursting With X-Rays

Astronomers have discovered a mysterious cosmic object, ASKAP J1832-0911, that emits both radio waves and X-rays in precise 44-minute cycles, making it unlike anything observed before. Space.com reports: This is the first time an object like this, a so-called 'long-period transient' or 'LPT,' has been seen in high-energy X-ray light as well as low-energy radio wave light. The team behind this discovery hopes the finding could help reveal what these flashing objects actually are and how they launch their mystery signals. However, not only is there no explanation for how the signals from LPTs are generated yet, but astronomers also don't know why these signals 'switch on' and 'switch off' at long, regular and unusual intervals. 'This object is unlike anything we have seen before,' team leader and Curtin University researcher Zieng (Andy) Wang said in a statement.

The team believes the true nature of ASKAP J1832-0911 is a dead star, they just don't quite know what form that star takes. A highly magnetic neutron star, or 'magnetar,' is one option, and a a white dwarf -- the kind of stellar remnant the sun will leave behind when it dies in over 5 billion years -- is another. 'ASKAP J1831- 0911 could be a magnetar, the core of a dead star with powerful magnetic fields, or it could be a pair of stars in a binary system where one of the two is a highly magnetized white dwarf, a low-mass star at the end of its evolution,' Wang said. 'However, even those theories do not fully explain what we are observing. 'This discovery could indicate a new type of physics or new models of stellar evolution.' The research has been published in the journal Nature.

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