Signal Discovered in Space Could Be a Star’s Heartbeat

There is a whole universe outside of Earth and many things waiting to be discovered. Astronomers are making intriguing discoveries about space every day. In some of these researches, planets, interesting images and objects that are thought to have similar life conditions to Earth are encountered.

A new one has been added to these discoveries that astonished astronomers and us. The radio signal discovered in the Milky Way, which includes Earth, is thought to be a very rare object.

For the first time, a white dwarf is thought to be acting like pulsars

According to the article shared by astrophysicist Jonathan Katz of the University of Washington, GLEAM-X J162759.5 The radio signal, called −523504.3, may be a very rare object. The object is thought to be a white dwarf pulsar; which is rare for white dwarf dwarfs that cannot be proven to exhibit pulsar-like activity. Pulsars exhibit rhythmic movements such as heartbeats, while white dwarfs are extinct and end-of-life stars. For this reason, it was considered very unlikely that these older stars would exhibit movements like pulsars.

If this periodic radio signal is discovered; managed to excite astronomers with the possibility that it may belong to the first true white dwarf pulsar. By studying the periods, frequency, and brightness of the radio signal, astronomers discovered that the signal had characteristics of pulsars. It is thought that this low-frequency radio signal, which has a period of 18.18 minutes, may have been detected before. The researchers say that the astronomers who encountered this signal before could not identify the object that could emit the frequencies, so they could not reach a conclusion.

These radio signals are thought to have been first encountered in 2018

It is thought that these signals may have been first encountered in Australia in 2018. It was noticed that the data collected by the Murchison Widefield Array had similar properties to pulsars. At the time, however, these data could not be matched to the profile of any astronomical object, and it was thought to be an ultra-long-period magnetar. However, astronomers could not come to a clear decision about the object, considering that the probability was very low and that this discovery could belong to something else. These signals, which have the same period as this discovery today, are thought to be the object of unknown origin and causing controversy at that time.

After the discovery of the radio signal, astrophysicist Jonathan Katz thought it could not be caused by a pulsar. The reason why he thinks this is; It has a long rotation period and the pulses it causes are too bright for a neutron star pulsar. Katz discovered that these problems would only be resolved if the object they had discovered was a white dwarf pulsar. If Katz’s thesis is correct, then the first white dwarf with the mechanism of radio pulsars may have been discovered. If this information that astronomers have is proven, other white dwarfs with similar characteristics will be discovered much more easily.