Astronomers discover strange new celestial object in our Milky Way
galaxy
[May 29, 2025]
By MARCIA DUNN
CAPE
CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have discovered a strange new object
in our Milky Way galaxy.
An international team reported Wednesday that this celestial object —
perhaps a star, pair of stars or something else entirely — is emitting
X-rays around the same time it’s shooting out radio waves. What’s more,
the cycle repeats every 44 minutes, at least during periods of extreme
activity.
Located
15,000 light-years away in a region of the Milky Way brimming with
stars, gas and dust, this object could be a highly magnetized dead star
like a neutron or white dwarf, Curtin University’s Ziteng Andy Wang said
in an email from Australia. |
This image provided by NASA shows X-rays from NASA’s Chandra X-ray
Observatory (represented in blue) that have been combined with infrared
data from NASA’s retired Spitzer Space Telescope (cyan, light blue, teal
and orange), and radio from MeerKat (red). An inset shows a more
detailed view of the immediate area around this unusual object in X-ray
and radio light. (NASA/Chandra/Spitzer/MeerKat via AP) |
|
Or it could be “something exotic” and unknown, said Wang, lead
author of the study published in the journal Nature.
NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory spotted the X-ray emissions by
chance last year while focusing on a supernova remnant, or the
remains of an exploded star. Wang said it was the first time
X-rays had been seen coming from a so-called long-period radio
transient, a rare object that cycles through radio signals over
tens of minutes.
Given the uncertain distance, astronomers can't tell if the
weird object is associated with the supernova remnant or not. A
single light-year is 5.8 trillion miles.
The hyperactive phase of this object — designated ASKAP
J1832−091 — appeared to last about a month. Outside of that
period, the star did not emit any noticeable X-rays. That could
mean more of these objects may be out there, scientists said.
“While our discovery doesn’t yet solve the mystery of what these
objects are and may even deepen it, studying them brings us
closer to two possibilities,” Wang said. “Either we are
uncovering something entirely new, or we’re seeing a known type
of object emitting radio and X-ray waves in a way we’ve never
observed before.”
Launched in 1999, Chandra orbits tens of thousands of miles
(kilometers) above Earth, observing some of the hottest,
high-energy objects in the universe.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights
reserved |
|
|
