{"id":401154,"date":"2022-01-28T14:18:29","date_gmt":"2022-01-28T11:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/this-mysterious-space-object-pulsed-for-3-months-then-disappeared\/"},"modified":"2022-01-28T14:18:29","modified_gmt":"2022-01-28T11:18:29","slug":"this-mysterious-space-object-pulsed-for-3-months-then-disappeared","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/this-mysterious-space-object-pulsed-for-3-months-then-disappeared\/","title":{"rendered":"#This mysterious space object pulsed for 3 months, then disappeared"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a28b75e6c047\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a28b75e6c047\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/this-mysterious-space-object-pulsed-for-3-months-then-disappeared\/#The_mystery_begins\" >The mystery begins<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/this-mysterious-space-object-pulsed-for-3-months-then-disappeared\/#The_plot_thickens\" >The plot thickens<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/this-mysterious-space-object-pulsed-for-3-months-then-disappeared\/#The_jury_is_still_out\" >The jury is still out<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#This mysterious space object pulsed for 3 months, then dis<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>eared<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n                            \u201cHoly sharks, Batman, it\u2019s periodic!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I exclaimed on Slack.<\/p>\n<p>It was the first lockdown of 2021 in Perth, and we were all working from home. And when astronomers look for something to distract themselves from looming existential dread, there\u2019s nothing better than a new cosmic mystery.<\/p>\n<p>In 2020, I gave an undergraduate student, Tyrone O\u2019Doherty, a fun project: look for radio sources that are changing in a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ted.com\/talks\/natasha_hurley_walker_how_radio_telescopes_show_us_unseen_galaxies\">large radio survey<\/a> I\u2019m leading.<\/p>\n<p>By the end of the year, he\u2019d found a particularly unusual source that was visible in data from early 2018, but had disappeared within a few months. The source <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41586-021-04272-x\">was named GLEAM-X J162759.5-523504<\/a>, after the survey it was found in and its position.<\/p>\n<p>Sources that appear and disappear are called \u201cradio transients\u201d and are usually a sign of extreme physics at play.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_mystery_begins\"><\/span>The mystery begins<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Earlier this year I started investigating the source, expecting it to be something we knew about \u2013 something that would change slowly over months and perhaps point to an exploded star, or a big collision in space.<\/p>\n<p>To understand the physics, I wanted to measure how the source\u2019s brightness relates to its frequency (in the electromagnetic spectrum). So I looked at observations of the same location, taken at different frequencies, before and after the detection, and it wasn\u2019t there.<\/p>\n<p>I was disappointed, as spurious signals do crop up occasionally due to telescope calibration errors, Earth\u2019s ionosphere reflecting TV signals, or aircraft and satellites streaking overhead.<\/p>\n<p>So I looked at more data. And in an observation taken 18 minutes later, there the source was again, in exactly the same place and at exactly the same frequency \u2013 like nothing astronomers had ever seen before.<\/p>\n<p>At this point, I broke out in a cold sweat. There is a worldwide research effort searching for repeating cosmic radio signals transmitted at a single frequency. It\u2019s called the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/curious-kids-what-has-the-search-for-extraterrestrial-life-actually-yielded-and-how-does-it-work-122454\">Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence<\/a>. Was this the moment we finally found that the truth is \u2026 <em>out there<\/em>?<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption><span class=\"caption\"\/><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/657269342\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_plot_thickens\"><\/span>The plot thickens<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>I rapidly downloaded more data and posted updates on Slack. This source was incredibly bright. It was outshining everything else in the observation, which is nothing to sniff at.<\/p>\n<p>The brightest radio sources are supermassive black holes flaring huge jets of matter into space at nearly the speed of light. What had we found that could possibly be brighter than that?<\/p>\n<p>Colleagues were beginning to take notice, posting:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>It\u2019s repeating too slowly to be a pulsar. But it\u2019s too bright for a flare star. What is this? (alien emoji icon)???<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Within a few hours, I breathed a sigh of relief: I had detected the source across a wide range of frequencies, so the power it would take to generate it could only come from a natural source; not artificial (and not aliens)!<\/p>\n<p>Just like <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.space.com\/32661-pulsars.html\">pulsars<\/a> \u2013 highly magnetized rotating neutron stars that beam out radio waves from their poles \u2013 the radio waves repeated like clockwork about three times per hour. In fact, I could predict when they would appear to an accuracy of one ten-thousandth of a second.<\/p>\n<p>So I turned to our enormous data archive: 40 petabytes of radio astronomy data recorded by the Murchison Widefield Array in Western Australia, during its eight years of operation. Using <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pawsey.org.au\/\">powerful supercomputers<\/a>, I searched hundreds of observations and picked up 70 more detections spanning three months in 2018, but none before or after.<\/p>\n<p>The amazing thing about radio transients is that if you have enough frequency coverage, you can work out how far away they are. This is because lower radio frequencies arrive slightly later than higher ones depending on how much space they\u2019ve <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel<\/a>ed through.<\/p>\n<p>Our new discovery lies about 4,000 light-years away \u2013 very distant, but still in our galactic backyard.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center \">\n<figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/442445\/original\/file-20220125-13-54xe4a.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/442445\/original\/file-20220125-13-54xe4a.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=338&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/442445\/original\/file-20220125-13-54xe4a.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=338&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/442445\/original\/file-20220125-13-54xe4a.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=338&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/442445\/original\/file-20220125-13-54xe4a.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=424&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/442445\/original\/file-20220125-13-54xe4a.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=424&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/442445\/original\/file-20220125-13-54xe4a.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=424&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w\"\/><figcaption><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"#\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Feditorial.thenextweb.com%2Fspace%2F2022%2F01%2F28%2Fthis-mysterious-space-object-pulsed-for-3-months-and-disappeared-what-the-hell%2F&amp;via=thenextweb&amp;related=thenextweb&amp;text=Check out this picture on: Interstellar space slows down long wavelength radio waves more than short. ICRAR\" data-title=\"Share Interstellar space slows down long wavelength radio waves more than short. ICRAR on Twitter\" data-width=\"685\" data-height=\"500\" class=\"post-image-share popitup\" title=\"Share Interstellar space slows down long wavelength radio waves more than short. ICRAR on Twitter\"><i class=\"icon icon--inline icon--twitter--dark\"\/><\/a>Interstellar space slows down long wavelength radio waves more than short. ICRAR<\/figcaption><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/442445\/original\/file-20220125-13-54xe4a.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" class=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/442445\/original\/file-20220125-13-54xe4a.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=338&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/442445\/original\/file-20220125-13-54xe4a.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=338&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/442445\/original\/file-20220125-13-54xe4a.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=338&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/442445\/original\/file-20220125-13-54xe4a.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=424&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/442445\/original\/file-20220125-13-54xe4a.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=424&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/442445\/original\/file-20220125-13-54xe4a.gif?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=424&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w\"\/><\/noscript><\/figure><figcaption\/><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>We also found the radio pulses were almost completely <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/science\/what-is-polarised-light\/\">polarised<\/a>. In astrophysics, this usually means their source is a strong magnetic field. The pulses were also changing shape in just half a second, so the source has to be less than half a light second across, much smaller than our Sun.<\/p>\n<p>Sharing the result with colleagues across the world, everyone was excited, but no one knew for sure what it was.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_jury_is_still_out\"><\/span>The jury is still out<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>There were two leading explanations for this compact, rotating, and highly magnetic astrophysical object: a white dwarf, or a neutron star. These remain after stars run out of fuel and collapse, generating magnetic fields billions to quintillions times stronger than our Sun\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>And while we\u2019ve never found a neutron star that behaves quite this way, theorists have predicted such objects, called \u201cultra-long period magnetars\u201d, could exist. Even so, no one expected one could be so bright.<\/p>\n<figure><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/657248792\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><figcaption><span class=\"caption\"\/><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This is the first time we\u2019ve ever seen a radio source that repeats every 20 minutes. But maybe the reason we never saw one before is that we weren\u2019t looking.<\/p>\n<p>When I first started trying to understand this source, I was biased by my expectations: transient radio sources either change quickly like pulsars, or slowly like the fading remnants of a supernova.<\/p>\n<p>I wasn\u2019t looking for sources repeating at 18-minute intervals \u2013 an unusual period for any known class of object. Nor was I searching for something that would appear for a few months and then disappear forever. No one was.<\/p>\n<p>As astronomers build <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.skatelescope.org\/\">new<\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lsst.org\/\">telescopes<\/a> that will collect vast quantities of data, it\u2019s vital we keep our minds, and our search techniques, open to unexpected possibilities. The universe is full of wonders, should we only choose to look.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class=\"js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/175240\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\"\/><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --><\/p>\n<p><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/175240\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class=\"\" srcset=\"\"\/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p><em>This article by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/natasha-hurley-walker-197768\">Natasha Hurley-Walker<\/a>, Radio Astronomer, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/curtin-university-873\">Curtin University<\/a> is republished from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/this-object-in-space-flashed-brilliantly-for-3-months-then-disappeared-astronomers-are-intrigued-175240\">original article<\/a>.<\/em>\n                        <\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/this-mysterious-space-object-pulsed-for-3-months-and-disappeared-what-the-hell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#This mysterious space object pulsed for 3 months, then disappeared&#8221; \u201cHoly sharks, Batman, it\u2019s periodic!\u201d I exclaimed on Slack. It was the first lockdown of 2021 in Perth, and we were all working from home. And when astronomers look for something to distract themselves from looming existential dread, there\u2019s nothing better than a new cosmic&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":401155,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2022\/01\/mysterious-signal.jpeg&signature=3e0a738d4cdca349704e7f53827db26a","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-401154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}