{"id":796439,"date":"2025-06-03T08:54:03","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T13:54:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=796439"},"modified":"2025-06-03T08:54:03","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T13:54:03","slug":"unusual-star-pulsing-in-x-ray-and-radio-baffles-scientists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=796439","title":{"rendered":"Unusual star pulsing in X-ray and radio baffles scientists"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/1086992709?h=f6c949da0c&amp;badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;app_id=58479\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write; encrypted-media\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\" title=\"Mysterious signals repeat in both X-ray and radio - Andy Wang\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>This video features an interview with Curtin University\u2019s Ziteng (Andy) Wang, the lead author of a paper on an unusual star that emits pulses in X-ray and radio wavelengths every 44 minutes. Video via the International Center for Radio Astronomy Research in Australia. Used with permission<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>ASKAP J1832-0911 is the only known star<\/strong> to emit synchronized pulses of radio and X-ray waves every 44 minutes.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Scientists classify this star as a long-period transient<\/strong>, a rare type of star first identified in 2022. But this is the first time such a star has been found emitting X-rays.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Researchers are unsure what causes this behavior<\/strong>, suggesting it could involve a magnetar or a binary system with a white dwarf, or it may point to entirely new stellar physics.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Unusual star emits pulses in X-ray and radio wavelengths<\/h3>\n<p>Astronomers study stars in a wide range of wavelengths to gain a fuller view of their nature. They observe stars in short wavelengths, like gamma rays and X-rays, to visible light to long wavelengths like radio waves. On May 28, 2025, scientists in Australia said they\u2019ve found a one-of-a-kind star. It\u2019s called ASKAP J1832-0911, and it emits a two-minute-long radio pulse every 44 minutes. But what makes it unusual is that a space-based X-ray observatory also detected X-ray pulses at the same time. <\/p>\n<p>The paper\u2019s lead author, Ziteng (Andy) Wang of Curtin University, said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Discovering that ASKAP J1832-0911 was emitting X-rays felt like finding a needle in a haystack.<\/p>\n<p>This object is unlike anything we have seen before.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Wang and his colleagues published their peer-reviewed findings in the journal <em>Nature<\/em> on May 28, 2025.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_512066\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-512066\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-512066\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">This image is a composite of X-ray, radio and infrared wavelengths. ASKAP J1831-0911 is marked with a circle. There is a supernova remnant in that circle, but the scientists do not think it is related to ASKAP J1831-0911. Image via NASA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>ASKAP J1832-0911 is a long-period transient star<\/h3>\n<p>Long-period transient stars are stars that emit pulses of radio waves every few minutes to hours. (They are different from pulsars, highly magnetized compact stars, that spin <em>extremely <\/em>rapidly \u2014 over milliseconds to seconds \u2014 and emit pulses in a wide range of wavelengths.) <\/p>\n<p>Astronomers first discovered these unusual stars in 2022. Since then, they have only found 10 long-period transients. Astronomers found these strange objects using modern radio telescopes that can observe wide fields of the sky. <\/p>\n<p>And astronomers have classified ASKAP J1832-0911, about 15,000 light-years away in our Milky Way galaxy, as a long-period transient. That\u2019s because it emits radio waves every 44 minutes, for about two minutes in duration. Australian astronomers \u2013 using the ASKAP radio telescopes \u2013 discovered it in late 2023. So the star gets its name from the observatory where it was first detected.<\/p>\n<p>Wang also wrote about ASKAP J1832-0911 in The Conversation. And he said that after its discovery, scientists conducted follow-up observations to better characterize it, including determining its two-minute radio emission ever 44 minutes. In addition, they looked for evidence of this star in old radio data but came up empty. Wang said in The Conversation:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>This suggests something dramatic happened shortly before we first detected it \u2013 something powerful enough to suddenly switch the object \u2018on.\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>And in February 2024, the star became even brighter in radio wavelengths. Wang wrote that ASKAP J1832-0911 was 10,000 times brighter than most stars detected in the radio sky. <\/p>\n<h3>First discovery of a long-period transient emitting X-rays <\/h3>\n<p>Coincidentally, in February 2024, the Chandra Space Telescope was looking near the same region of the sky as ASKAP J1832-0911 in X-ray wavelengths.<\/p>\n<p>Wang was able to obtain that X-ray data from a colleague at Columbia University. To his amazement, he saw clear X-ray signals from ASKAP J1832-0911, following the same 44-minute cycle seen in the radio data. <\/p>\n<p>He remarked:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>The ASKAP radio telescope has a wide field view of the night sky, while Chandra observes only a fraction of it. So, it was fortunate that Chandra observed the same area of the night sky at the same time.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<figure id=\"attachment_512067\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-512067\" style=\"width: 800px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2025\/05\/ASKAP-J1832-0911-Radio-vs-X-ray.jpg\" alt=\"Two plots showing peaks that coincide in radio and X-ray pulses from ASKAP J1832-0911.\" width=\"800\" height=\"643\" class=\"size-full wp-image-512067\" srcset=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2025\/05\/ASKAP-J1832-0911-Radio-vs-X-ray.jpg 800w, https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2025\/05\/ASKAP-J1832-0911-Radio-vs-X-ray-300x241.jpg 300w, https:\/\/earthsky.org\/upl\/2025\/05\/ASKAP-J1832-0911-Radio-vs-X-ray-768x617.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-512067\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The diagram at the top shows the radio wavelength pulses from ASKAP J1832-0911, observed with the ASKAP radio telescopes. Below it are the X-ray pulses from the Chandra Space Telescope. Both pulses are coincident. Image via Ziteng Wang\/ ICRAR.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Why the unusual star ASKAP J1832-0911 is so intriguing<\/h3>\n<p>Scientists do not understand what\u2019s going on at ASKAP J1832-0911. Short wavelengths like X-rays are usually emitted by highly energetic events, but radio waves are associated with weaker phenomena.<\/p>\n<p>Wang commented:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>ASKAP J1831-0911 could be a magnetar [the core of a dead star with powerful magnetic fields], or it could be a pair of stars in a binary system where one of the two is a highly magnetized white dwarf [a low-mass star at the end of its evolution].<\/p>\n<p>However, even those theories do not fully explain what we are observing. This discovery could indicate a new type of physics or new models of stellar evolution.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Co-author Nanda Rea of the Institute of Space Sciences in Barcelona, Spain, added:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Finding one such object hints at the existence of many more. The discovery of its transient X-ray emission opens fresh insights into their mysterious nature.<\/p>\n<p>What was also truly remarkable is that this study showcases an incredible teamwork effort, with contributions from researchers across the globe with different and complementary expertise.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>ASKAP J1831-0911 remains a mystery. Astronomers need to obtain more data in both radio and X-ray wavelengths of this enigmatic object. Also, they need to observe more long-period transients in X-ray. After all, they could be looking at an entirely new type of celestial object. <\/p>\n<p>Bottom line: Astronomers have discovered a new type of star. It emits both radio and X-ray wavelength pulses every 44 minutes. <\/p>\n<p>Source: Detection of X-ray emission from a bright long-period radio transient<\/p>\n<p>Via:<\/p>\n<p>International Center for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR)<\/p>\n<p>The Conversation<\/p>\n<p>NASA<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"cp-load-after-post\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"post-author\">\n<h4>Shireen Gonzaga<\/h4>\n<p>                    View Articles\n                  <\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"post-tags\">\n<h6 data-udy-fe=\"text_7c58270d\">About the Author:<\/h6>\n<p>Shireen Gonzaga is a freelance writer who enjoys writing about natural history. She is also a technical editor at an astronomical observatory where she works on documentation for astronomers.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/earthsky.org\/space\/unusual-star-pulsing-in-x-ray-and-radio-waves\/?rand=772280\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This video features an interview with Curtin University\u2019s Ziteng (Andy) Wang, the lead author of a paper on an unusual star that emits pulses in X-ray and radio wavelengths every&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":796440,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-796439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-sky"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=796439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/796440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=796439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=796439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=796439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}