A strange radio-emitting neutron star has been discovered by an international team of astronomers. Experts have noted that the discovery of the star could help understand these unique star systems.

A strange radio-emitting neutron star has been discovered by an international team of astronomers. Experts have noted that the discovery of the star could help understand these unique star systems. Scientists have noted that the neutron star is rotating extremely slowly, completing one rotation every 76 seconds. Astronomers are stunned because of the uniqueness of the star as it resides in the "neutron star graveyard" where no pulsations are expected. The discovery published in Nature Astronomy journal was made by the MeerTRAP (More Transients and Pulsars) group at The University of Manchester. They used the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa. ALSO READ | Four 'malicious' alien civilisations could attack or invade Earth: Researcher Dr Manisha Caleb, who is the research lead said as quoted phys.org: "Amazingly we only detect radio emission from this source for 0.5 per cent of its rotation period. "This means that it is very lucky that the radio beam intersected with the Earth. It is therefore likely that there are many more of these very slowly spinning stars in the galaxy, which has important implications for understanding how neutron stars are born and age," she added. Dr Caleb, who was formerly from the University of Manchester and now at the University of Sydney, "The majority of pulsar surveys do not search for periods this long, so we have no idea how many of these stars might exist." ALSO READ | Major discovery: ‘Biggest plant on Earth’ found in Shark Bay off Australia’s west coast The newly discovered neutron star at least has seven different pulse types and some of which are strongly periodic. It is named PSR J0901-4046. As quoted by ScitechDaily, Professor Ben Stappers at The University of Manchester and Principal Investigator of the MeerTRAP project said that the radio emission from this neutron star is "unlike any we have ever seen before". Prof Stappers further said, "We get to view it for about 300 milliseconds, which is much longer than for the majority of other radio emitting neutron stars. There seem to be at least 7 different pulse types, some of which show strongly periodic structure, which could be interpreted as seismic vibrations of the neutron star. These pulses might be giving us vital insight into the nature of the emission mechanism for these sources." WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Strange neutron star discovered in 'stellar graveyard'. It is emitting unusual radio signal

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