Unusual radio waves in the center of the Milky Way baffle scientists
The object is in the center of the Milky Way and scientists still do not know the nature of the event.
Photo: ALEXANDER JOE / Getty Images
Scientists discovered radio waves with unusual properties in the center of the Milky Way. According to a study, the properties of the signals do not resemble any phenomenon known to science today, however, the object that emits them will be the subject of research in the coming years.
Ziteng Wang, lead author of the new study in The Astrophysical Journal, said that the brightness of the object varies drastically, plus it turns off and on randomly seemingly.
“The strangest property of this new signal is that it has a very high polarization. This means that its light oscillates in only one direction, but that direction turns over timeWang wrote in a statement.
At first, it was thought to be a pulsar, which is a dead neutron star that expels radiation at short, regular intervals. However, the radio waves emitted by the object do not match those normally emitted by these spatial objects.
The team of scientists named the object ASKAP J173608,2-321635.
According to Tara Murphy, a professor at the Sydney Institute of Astronomy and co-author of the study, she said the object was unique because it “started out invisible, turned bright, faded, and then reappeared”, which her appearance was “impressive.”
The object was initially picked up by the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder Telescope (ASKAP), but they later asked the Parkes telescopes in New South Wales and the MeerKAT in South Africa to further monitor the phenomenon in the center of the Milky Way. However, the Parkes did not capture any events, but the MeerKAT did capture the event, but with other characteristics, which puzzled the researchers.
“Fortunately, the signal returnedBut we found that the behavior of the source was dramatically different: the source disappeared in a single day, even though it had lasted for weeks in our previous ASKAP observations, ”Murphy said.
At the same time, the study co-author indicated that much more powerful telescopes are needed to unravel the mystery behind the signals whose researchers are still unable to explain.
Currently, the Square Kilometer Array is a project to build an intergovernmental radio telescope between Australia and South Africa. It is one of the most ambitious space observation projects in the world, since it is estimated that will be 50 times more sensitive than any other artifact for observing space on the planet.
It is estimated that it will become operational at some point in 2027 and would provide the highest resolution images of all astronomy.
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