About 15,000 light-years from Earth, an intensely magnetic neutron star emits radio waves into the universe every 22 minutes, surprising astronomers with its ultra-long periods.
Neutron stars with intense magnetic fields are called magnetars. Now, 22-minute periods may appear relatively frequent on time scales on Earth, but the periods of most magnetars range from a few seconds to a few minutes.
Magnetars are responsible for many of the fast radio bursts (FRBs) that astronomers have witnessed spread throughout the universe, even from within our own galaxy. However, long-period radio bursts are less common.
The ultra-long-period magnetar has been named GPM J1839-10 and was first detected using the Murchison Widefield Array, a radio telescope array located in distant Western Australia. According to the radio archives researched by the team, the eruptions of this magnetar last about five minutes and have been repeated since at least 1988.
The team first found a long-period magnetar in January 2022, but wanted to know if the object was unique or if there were other similar objects. Scans using the Murchison Widefield Array between July 2022 and September 2022 found GPM J1839-10 with radio bursts that could last five times longer than the magnetar first detected.
Confusingly, this magnetar shouldn’t be able to emit the energetic bursts that the team has seen. Hurley-Walker said that the object they discovered rotated too slowly to generate radio waves; He says if they assume it’s a magnetar, the object shouldn’t be able to generate radio waves.
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