Astrónomos descubrieron un misterioso objeto que parpadea cada 20 minuto
Astronomers Discover a Mysterious Star That Flashes Every 20 Minutes. But What is it?
Tiene el tamaño de una estrella y con un destello que dura entre medio segundo y casi un minuto, es uno de los objetos de radio más brillantes del cielo
Aencuentra solo 4.000 años luz de la Tierra se
un extraño objeto del tamaño de una estrella. Este ha sido observado por radiotelescopios, pero los astrónomos no están seguros de qué es. Lo llaman un transitorio de largo período.
Los transitorios son objetos en el cielo que cambian durante un período de tiempo, según detalló el medio Universe Today. Existen dos tipos diferentes, los transitorios rápidos, que emiten un destello brillante durante un período de segundos o milisegundos, y los transitorios lentos, los cuales son objetos como las supernovas, que alcanzan un brillo extremo durante días o meses.
Los científicos descubrieron que este nuevo objeto es transitorio tres veces por hora. Aproximadamente cada 18 minutos, se convierte en uno de los objetos de radio más brillantes del cielo, con un destello que dura entre medio segundo y casi un minuto. Su largo período y brillo extremo es lo que lo hace tan inusual.
Una de las ideas que se planteó es que es un objeto hipotético conocido como magnetar de período ultra largo. Los magnetares son estrellas de neutrones, al igual que los púlsares, pero los magnetares tienen campos magnéticos mucho más fuertes.
ENGLISH
Just 4,000 light-years from Earth is a strange, star-sized object. It’s been observed by radio telescopes, but astronomers aren’t sure what it is.
They call it a long period transient.
Transients are objects in the sky that change over some period of time. Fast transients are things such as pulsars, which emit a bright flash over a period of seconds or milliseconds. Slow transients are objects such as supernovae, which grow to extreme brightness over days or months. This new object is transient three times an hour. About every 18 minutes, it becomes one of the brightest radio objects in the sky, with its flash lasting anywhere from half a second to nearly a minute. Its long period and extreme brightness are what makes it so unusual.
One idea is that the object is a hypothetical object known as an ultra-long period magnetar. Magnetars are neutron stars, the same as pulsars, but magnetars have much stronger magnetic fields. Most magnetars are thought to rotate as quickly as pulsars, but their strong magnetic fields could interact with surrounding ionized gas in a way that causes it to slow down significantly. This would turn it into a kind of slow rotating pulsar. The problem with this idea is that astronomers have thought ultra-long period magnetars wouldn’t be nearly so bright. Another idea is that the object is a strange type of white dwarf, but it isn’t clear how a white dwarf could become so radio bright.
Based on observations, we do know the object has an intense magnetic field. The radio light we see from the object is highly polarized. Charged particles emit highly polarized light when they interact with a strong magnetic field. We also know the transient can’t simply be a standard pulsar effect. Pulsars emit regular flashes because their rotation sweeps a beam of intense radio light across the sky. We see a radio flash every time the beam sweeps our way, similar to the flash of a lighthouse.