An international team led by astronomers from the Curtin University of the International Center for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) has discovered a new type of stellar object that challenges what was known even about the physics of neutron stars.
Could be an ultra-long-lived magnetara rare type of star with extremely strong magnetic fields that can produce powerful bursts of energy.
Until recently, all known magnetars released energy at intervals ranging from a few seconds to a few minutes. The newly discovered object emits radio waves every 22 minutes, making it the longest-lived magnetar ever detected, according to the statement released by ICRAR, a synthesis of the article published in Nature.
“This remarkable object challenges our understanding of neutron stars and magnetars, which are some of the most exotic and extreme objects in the universe,” said study lead author Natasha Hurley-Walker. Locate this magnetar, named GPM J183910, 15,000 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Scutum. It is only the second of its kind detected.
The radio waves that astronomers detected are called fast radio burst (FRB). Among them would be those emitted by this GPM J1839-10 magnetar.