Australia scientists find 'spooky' spinning object in Milky Way

Image source, ICRAR/Curtin

Australian scientists claim to have discovered a spinning object in the stars that is unlike anything seen before.

The object has been observed to release a huge burst of radio energy for a full minute every 18 minutes.

There are many objects that pulse energy in the universe. Researchers say something that turns on for a minute is normal.

The team is trying to understand more.

The object was first discovered by a student at the University of the West of Australia, who used a telescope and a new technique to find it.

Mr O&Doherty was part of a team that was led by an astronomer from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research.

She was quoted as saying in a media release from ICRAR that it was appearing and disappearing over a few hours.

That was completely unforeseen. It was kind of spooky for an astronomer because there was nothing known in the sky that did that.

Astronomers call objects that turn on and off in the Universe transients.

An object that turned on for a full minute was really weird, according to the release.

The team was able to establish that the object is 4,000 light-years from Earth and has a strong magnetic field.

A white dwarf is a term used for the remnants of a collapsed star. Much of the discovery is a mystery.

More detections will show whether this was a one-off event or a large population we had never seen before.