Scientists have observed the emission of radio signals that came from an unknown source and traveled towards Earth for 20 minutes. And that for 35 years!
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This is a mystery that continues to intrigue astronomers, and a discovery that boggles their certainties. It has now been 35 years since an unknown source sent radio signals to Earth about 20 minutes long.
We learn this from an article published in the journal Nature by a team of astronomers who have still not been able to identify the original of these signals, which do not agree at all with known models.
An unknown origin, an enduring mystery
These signals could be likened to those emitted by pulsars, or “fast radio bursts.” Pulsars are neutron stars that spin around their axis at very high speeds, emitting these radio waves as they do so. Radio bursts, on the other hand, are anomalies in radio frequency measurements from space.
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However, these signals last between a few milliseconds and several seconds. The identified signals can last up to 21 minutes at different intensities.
Therefore, scientists are struggling to find the star that is causing these unexplained waves. In particular, they are working on the hypothesis of a “white dwarf” type star or a “magnetar”, a star whose magnetic field is particularly strong.
However, the emissions that this type of celestial object emits are very different from the recently identified signals. So the secret is kept!