'Are they aliens?': Unexplained signal from deep space has repeated every 22 minutes since the 1980s
Produced by Abhinav Yadav
Produced by Abhinav Yadav
For 35 years, a steady radio signal has been coming from deep space every 22 minutes and scientists still don’t know what it is. Named GPM J1839–10, this object defies everything we know about how stars behave.
Although the signal was only discovered recently, researchers found it has been repeating since 1988.It had gone unnoticed for decades, quietly pulsing like a cosmic clock.
Unlike common space signals that are quick and bright, this one sends out long, faint radio bursts that last up to five minutes. Even more puzzling each burst can contain smaller flashes inside.
Scientists thought it might be a pulsar a spinning neutron star but pulsars usually flash every few seconds or milliseconds. This one takes 1,320 seconds (22 minutes) far too slow to fit current models.
Some experts suggest it could be a magnetar (an extremely magnetic star) or a white dwarf (a slowly spinning star core). However, both ideas have gaps no similar objects have been seen behaving like this before.
This signal doesn’t fit into any known category. Astronomers now believe it could be an entirely new type of celestial object, never seen before. It’s a mystery that challenges our understanding of the universe.
To understand it properly, scientists need many hours of observation with powerful radio telescopes. The big question remains: What exactly is GPM J1839–10 and why has it pulsed for decades without stopping?