AUSTRALIA - A team of astrophysicists mapping the southern skies recently discovered something unusual: an unknown object that released a giant burst of energy three times an hour.The team from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), led by Dr.
Natasha Hurley-Walker, measured radio waves coming from different objects in space.The object was discovered by Curtin University honours student Tyrone O’Doherty using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA)— a low-frequency radio telescope located in Western, Australia.
Hurley-Walker told FOX Television Stations Group when she investigated the source earlier this year, she found the source was appearing and disappearing regularly: on for 30 to 60 seconds, then off for 17 to 18 minutes.
The location of the source in the sky in January 2022, marked with a large white star marker. At this time of year, it is above the horizon during the day. (Credit: Stellarium) "When I looked back through the archives I found enough separate pulses that I could line them up by an exact period: 18.18 minutes.