Astronomers detected Milky Way source ASKP J1424 repeating, then vanished
Astronomers just picked up a mysterious radio-emitting object, ASKAP J1424, coming from the Milky Way.
Detected on January 9, 2025, it repeated every 36 minutes for about eight days and then vanished.
What's wild is that signals like this aren't supposed to be so strong, so this find is shaking up what scientists thought they knew.
ASKAP J1424 emitted 17 polarized pulses
ASKAP J1424 sent out 17 powerful pulses with highly polarized waves, hinting at a strong magnetic field nearby.
After about eight days, it went totally silent: no sign in past or future scans so far.
Even with big telescopes like Gemini South looking for its source in visible or infrared light, nothing has turned up yet.
Researchers are keeping an eye on the region to figure out what could possibly create such a rare cosmic event.