Magnetos are stellar remnants with very strong magnetic fields that can produce powerful explosions. A team of astronomers has analyzed one about 8,000 light-years away – the closest to us – that is emitting unusual and complex signals.
A team of astronomers made the discovery using Murryong, the radio telescope at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization's (CSIRO) Parkes Observatory. The details were published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy.
Most magnets are known to emit polarized light, but this one, called XTE J1810-197, emits it circularly, meaning that the light spins in a spiral as it moves through space. Something completely unprecedented and unexpected for astronomers.
“Unlike the radio signals we've seen in other magnets, this one emits a rapidly changing circular polarization on a massive scale. We've never seen anything like it,” agrees CSIRO researcher and study leader Marcus Lower.
Studying magnets allows us to better understand the physics of strong magnetic fields and the environments they create.
“These magnetic signals indicate that the interactions on the star's surface are more complex than previously theoretical explanations,” said study co-author and researcher Manisha Caleb of the University of Sydney.
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They detect unusual and unprecedented behavior in a near-Earth magnetosphere
Detecting radio pulses from a magnet is extremely rare, but XTE J1810-197 is one of the few known to produce them, and why this magnet behaves so differently is unknown.
The team believes there may be a superheated plasma at the magnet's magnetic pole that acts as a polarizing filter, but “how well it does this has yet to be determined,” Loer points out.
XTE J1810-197 first emitted radio signals in 2003 and remained silent for the next decade.
The signals were re-detected in 2018 by the University of Manchester's Lovell Telescope at the Jotrell Bank Observatory, and were quickly followed by Muriang, which was key in observing the radio emission of magnetism.
The Murryong telescope, known as “The Dish”, has a sophisticated ultra-wideband receiver that allows precise measurements of celestial objects, particularly magnetism, as it is very sensitive to changes in brightness and polarization. Wide range of radio frequencies.
Studies like these provide insight into a range of extreme and unusual phenomena, such as plasma dynamics, X- and gamma-ray bursts, and fast radio bursts.
With information from EFE.
