It may be a dark neutron star, but no hypothesis for the moment convinces. There is a mysterious signal from the center of the galaxy: we do not understand what it is.
A strange radio signal has been intercepted by the scientists' instruments. It is an intermittent signal, not regular, which scholars have traced to a pulsar, ie a neutron star, but with unusual and unknown characteristics.
The pulsar hypothesis is currently the most plausible explanation, but only because there is nothing more convincing. In short, we are dealing with a signal capable of sending astronomers into a tailspin: that's why scientists are scratching their heads, without knowing how to interpret a trace coming from the galaxy that, at the moment, seems inexplicable.
What are the characteristics of the mysterious intermittent radio signal
The existence and behavior of the signal ASKAP J173608.2-321635 were explored in an article in the Astrophysical Journal.
In the name we see inscribed the letters that form the abbreviation for the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder, the super telescope capable of scanning large areas of the sky in great detail. Behind the acronym, however, is also the story of Ziteng Wang, the University of Sydney doctoral student who first discovered the signal, observing its brightness in one image and its total absence in another image, superimposed on the first.
"Its light only oscillates in one direction," Wang explained. "The brightness of the object also varies greatly," he continued, pointing out some even stranger features - the signal turns on and off seemingly at random. We've never seen anything like this," he then concluded.
Over the course of a 9-month observation period, the turning on of ASKAP J173608.2-321635 lasted from a single day to several weeks, enough, however, to indicate to optical telescopes and the Parkes Radio Telescope where to look. In particular, the MeerKat Observatory in South Africa may have spotted something, but for now the investigation is ongoing.
ASKAP J173608.2-321635 Is it an alien beacon?
We know what science fiction fans are thinking, but it's good to set the record straight right off the bat: although little is generally known about the signal intercepted by the Australians, researchers have ruled out any hypothesis that it has anything to do with the discovery of alien life: "The most likely thing is that it's some sort of dark neutron star, with properties such that it evades our detection most of the time."
Space is full of unexplained phenomena that remind us how little we know about how the galaxy works: among them a mysterious signal that hits Earth every 16 days and the blue glow spotted by the ISS.
Giuseppe Giordano