The existence of this object had already been theorized.
The discovery of a spinning object in the Milky Way that emits an electromagnetic beam at an unusually long rate has opened up a new field of research, astronomers say.
A young Australian thesis student, with the help of a powerful telescope located in the center of the country, discovered this space object, located according to scientists about 4,000 light years from Earth.
The object releases a huge amount of electromagnetic radiation about three times every hour, for unusually long periods, according to data published by the journal Nature.
“It is an unusual object” soberly indicates the radio astronomer Ismaël Cognard, of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS).
Astronomers have already detected in the past stars that emit electromagnetic waves at regular intervals. But it emits radiation roughly every 18.18 minutes, rather than a much shorter period.
Pulsars are the most common. They are very high density stars, composed exclusively of neutrons, whose emissions are very intense, brief and regular.
Another “type” of star, also made up of neutrons, is the much rarer magnetar (or magnetostar). Its electromagnetic emissions can last for tens of seconds.
The Australian research team is now working to understand what they have found.
“Technically it is very difficult and very expensive, in terms of calculations,” explains Fabian Schüssler, an astrophysicist at the European Atomic Energy Commission, to AFP.
Radio telescopes produce mountains of data that in turn require machines capable of producing algorithms and high calculations to achieve a result.
“It is a good example of a discovery that is achieved when investigating in a space of unexplored parameters,” says Fabian Schüssler. That is, when looking where it is not normally done, or with the appropriate means.
open hunt
The existence of this object had already been theorized, explains Australian astrophysicist Natasha Hurley-Walker, who leads the research team.
It is, according to her, an ultra-long period magnetar. A kind of neutron star, which rotates extremely slowly on itself, emitting an extremely strong electromagnetic field.
“We know that the rotation of a neutron star decreases throughout its existence”, indicates Fabian Schüssler, so the hypothesis is “plausible”.
But this increasingly slow spin, like that of a spinning top that is losing strength, poses another problem.
The detected object “should not have enough energy to produce that kind of radiomagnetic wave every 18 minutes,” says Natasha Hurley-Walker of Curtin University.
A slower rotating object “should emit a much weaker emission, to the point of being almost undetectable,” said astrophysicist Fabian Schüssler.
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The signal was detected over a period of three months, in early 2018. The object has not disappeared, although its signal is no longer detected.
Ismaël Cognard, from the CNRS, bases himself on a theory to explain the power of the recorded emission: “Some magnetars have very bright emission periods. We are beginning to conjecture that there could be cracks in the magnetar’s crust, which would influence its magnetic field, increasing the power of its emission,” he said.
The mysterious object still exists, insists the French astronomer. Now we have to hunt for other examples to compare data. (I)
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