A repeating radio signal from within the galaxy that contains Earth may originate from an extremely intriguing “pulsar white dwarf,” which has been discovered for the first time.
GLEAM-X J162759.5−523504.3, a mysterious object emitting radio signals with low-frequency pulses (72-215 MHz), exhibits all the characteristics of a pulsar but has a cycle hundreds of times longer than any pulsar known previously.
The sky under radio light – (Photo: MWA)
The research team, led by astrophysicist Jonathan Katz from Washington University in St. Louis, USA, utilized data collected from the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) observation system located in the Australian desert. They recorded bright pulses from the mysterious object approximately every 18.18 minutes for durations of 30-60 seconds, making it one of the most powerful sources of low-frequency radio signals.
The Science Alert website cites a report suggesting that this could be the first recorded pulsar white dwarf.
Previously, pulsars were often referred to as “monsters of monsters”—a type of neutron star that spins at incredibly high speeds, much more powerful than other already strong neutron stars. Similar to neutron stars, they are believed to form from the death of a star with a mass 8-30 times that of the Sun.
There is also a hypothesis that neutron stars can form after the death of a white dwarf, which was already a stellar remnant, collapsing a second time and continuing to condense into something denser and stronger.
White dwarfs typically result from the “death” of stars smaller than 8 times the mass of the Sun. However, a rapidly spinning white dwarf like a pulsar is quite unusual, despite prior suspicions.
This peculiar star, located 4,000 light-years away from us, has the capability to convert energy from its magnetic field into radio waves more efficiently than any known astronomical object.
The research was recently published online on arXiv. Scientists are not stopping here as they hope to discover more pulsar white dwarfs to better understand how they form and are elevated to the status of “monsters” due to their rapid spinning, which enhances their power effectively.
