The universe is very big and we haven’t seen everything yet, so it still has many mysteries to offer us. Moreover, just published a new study in Nature in which astronomers from Perth (Australia) have observed a new object. Let’s see what this new research says and what hypotheses its authors are considering. Because the theory they handle is that it could be the first observation of a ultra long period magnetar; but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
The research has been carried out from the International Center for Radio Astronomical Research of the curtin university. It was there where Tyrone O’Doherty, a student who is now doing his doctorate at this institution; discovered a strange and mysterious object while observing the universe with the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) telescope.
I was mapping radio waves in the universe when He noticed something unusual. There was something which was releasing a huge burst of energy three times an hour.
A mystery of the universe never seen before
This burst of energy is unlike anything astronomers have seen before. Neither this team nor any other group of astronomers.
The hypothesis proposed by the group led by astrophysicist Natasha Hurley-Walker, and in which O’Doherty participates; is that it could be “a neutron star or one White dwarf -collapsed star cores- with an ultra-strong magnetic field“, as indicated in a Press release.
This object rotates in space and, meanwhile, emits a beam of radiation that makes it one of the brightest radio sources in the sky. But only one minute out of twenty.
“This object appeared and disappeared over the hours during our observations,” Hurley-Walker notes in the statement. “That was completely unexpected. To an astronomer it was kind of creepy because there’s nothing known in the sky that does that.” “Also, it’s very close to us, about 4,000 light-years away. It’s in our galactic backyard.”
Transient objects in the universe
It’s not the first time we’ve seen objects turn on and off in the sky. That is why they are often called transient objects. Supernovae or pulsars are an example of this.
Supernovae are of the type slow since they appear from one day to the next and can shine for months before disappearing. Pulsars are transient objects rapid; because they only take a few seconds or milliseconds to appear and disappear.
And it is that, as explained in the statement by Dr. Gemma Anderson, also from the Curtin University team; the transitory objects that are observed are “the death of a massive star or the activity of the remnants that it leaves behind”. However, he adds that it is very rare to find objects that are on for minutes, as is this case.
What did O’Doherty see?
Therefore, this is a discovery of a foreign object; a whole mystery of the universe to study. However, it has been theorized about this type of observations and it is not something impossible. It’s more, Perth researchers have a theory about this radio source.
The object it was mysterious because when it shone it did so brightly. It was smaller than the Sun and emitted highly polarized radio waves, “which suggested that the object had an extremely strong magnetic field.”
All these features could fit, as Hurley-Walker points out, with an already predicted object: the ultra long period magnetar (also called magnetostars).
“It is a type of neutron star that rotates slowly and whose existence has been predicted in theory”, comments the leader of the research team. “But no one expected to directly detect one like this because we didn’t expect them to be so bright“He adds. “Somehow, it’s converting magnetic energy into radio waves much more efficiently than anything we’ve seen before.”
On his discovery, doctoral student O’Doherty explains that it is “exciting” that the source he identified “last year” turned out to be “such a peculiar object”.
Find more magnetars
It’s been a while since the possible ultra-long period magnetar was observed; but the Hurley-Walker team keep observing with the MWA telescope the place where it was seen in case it turns on and off again. “If it does, there are telescopes all over the southern hemisphere and even in orbit that can point right at it,” he notes.
In addition, they will continue to search for other magnetostars of this type, as explained by the leader of these researchers. “Further detections will tell astronomers if it is a rare single event or a vast new population that we had never noticed before,” he says.
Ultimately, there is still much to investigate about magnetars. Although we think that we have already seen everything, the universe does not stop surprising us with its mysteries.