Strange radio signals from an unknown space object

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Using their radio telescopes, scientists regularly scan the sky for aberrations. The stars may appear twinkling when viewed from Earth, but most of them are remarkably static (by the way, it’s Earth’s atmosphere that makes them twinkle). However, some things change in brightness over time. Other things appear and disappear. Discovering these things and events can lead to a better understanding of how the universe works.

Since 2020, the Variable and Slow Expression Survey (VAST) has been analyzing the sky using the Australian Square Kilometer Array Radio Telescope (ASKAP) network. Shortly after the investigation began, Grid discovered something unusual.

Professor Tara Murphy, co-author of the book New study from the University of Sydney. “This thing is unique in that it started invisible, became shiny, faded, and then reappeared. This behavior is unusual,” she explains.

Between January and September 2020, signals from the body were picked up six times in total. “The brightness of the object varies greatly. The signal is turned on and off seemingly randomly. We’ve never seen anything like it before,” Ziteng Wang, a doctoral student who led the school, said.study.

Even stranger to scientists is the way radio waves are heard “rising” through space. The strangest property of this new signal is that its light oscillates in only one direction, but that direction rotates over time. “Radio sources that change direction are extremely rare,” Wang says.

At the moment, the nature of the ASKAP object J173608.2-321635 remains a mystery. Other radio telescopes confirmed that it was not a dead star or a dwarf star as no objects at this location have been detected by infrared telescopes.

Researchers continue their observations of the UFO in hopes of finally solving the mystery lurking deep in the Milky Way.

See also: Water vapor detected on Jupiter’s moon