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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/a-strange-signal-from-deep-space-has-been-detected-every-22-minutes-for-more-than-30-years-scientists-have-no-idea-what-is-causing-it/ar-AA1egITn

A strange signal from deep space has been detected every 22 minutes for
more than 30 years. Scientists have no idea what is causing it.
Story by mguenot@businessinsider.com (Marianne Guenot) • Yesterday 4:47 AM

An artist's impression of a magnetar, a dying neutron star. Scientists
think they've found a pulsating star that defies the physics of stars. ICRAR
An artist's impression of a magnetar, a dying neutron star. Scientists
think they've found a pulsating star that defies the physics of stars. ICRAR
© ICRAR
A mysterious object spotted in the cosmos is beaming radio waves toward
Earth every 22 minutes.
Signals from this type of cosmic object usually slow down over time.
But this one has been sending signals for more than 30 years, and
scientists can't figure out why.

At the end of their life, stars can collapse into neutron stars,
superdense objects that pack billions of tons of matter into tiny little
spaces, per NASA.

Some neutron stars shoot brilliant beams of light and energy from their
magnetic poles. We only pick up the signal as the beam washes over our
planet, similar to the light from a lighthouse blinking to a boat offshore.

These create repeated blips on Earth that are so consistent that
scientists that first detected them wrongly thought they could be
communications from aliens in outer space. But since then, they have
figured out they are the gasps of a dying star beaming through the
universe.

Related video: Who Created 'Nothing' Our Universe Formed From (Dailymotion)

This star is crossing the death line

Scientists expect pulsating neutron stars to slow down until they reach
a "death line." This is a theoretical threshold that dictates that stars
that are too slow are about to die. This threshold is usually thought to
be crossed when the pulses slow to more than a few minutes apart.

But the pulses coming from GPM J1839−10, the team found, came every 22
minutes. And these could last up to five minutes each, defying all
expectations.

"The object we've discovered is spinning way too slowly to produce radio
waves," Dr Hurley-Walker said.

This wasn't the first time a super slow object like this one had been
spotted.

The same team had previously spotted another slow object that pulsed
every 18 minutes or so, lasting up to a minute each. The team postulated
the beams were coming from a magnetar, a neutron star with intense
magnetic fields.

But GPM J1839−10 had one more science-defying surprise in its pocket.

A dying star that refuses to die out
A segment of the Murchison Widefield Array in Western Australia that was
used to pick up the signal from the star. Pete Wheeler, ICRAR
A segment of the Murchison Widefield Array in Western Australia that was
used to pick up the signal from the star. Pete Wheeler, ICRAR
© Pete Wheeler, ICRAR
Looking through archives, Hurley-Walker said the team uncovered GPM
J1839−10's "real surprise."

This object's pulses had been picked up, unnoticed, by observatories
around the world for years, beaming "like clockwork, every 1,318.1957
seconds, give or take a tenth of a millisecond," per Hurley-Walker.

This goes against what we know about neutron stars. These are expected
to die out in months. For instance, the 2018 object only blazed for a
short while, between January and March 2018.

But the first record of GPM J1839−10's pulses dates back to 1988 — about
33 years ago.

This could mean the object is a new type of stellar system altogether.

"This remarkable object challenges our understanding of neutron stars
and magnetars, which are some of the most exotic and extreme objects in
the universe," said Hurley-Walker.

The team will now be trying to reconcile their observations with what we
know about the physics of stars.

"Whatever mechanism is behind this is extraordinary," she said.

While sitting in a jail cell halfway across the globe, Griner was able
to see a photo of the players honoring her at the All-Star Game.

Full screen
1 of 2 Photos in Gallery©AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov

Big names across the sports world and beyond share reactions to Brittney
Griner's 9-year prison sentence
Brittney Griner was found guilty of drug smuggling and sentenced to 9
years in Russian prison.
The WNBA star was arrested in February after Moscow airport officials
found cannabis in her luggage.
From top athletes to musicians and politicians, here's how the world
has reacted to Griner's sentence.
Brittney Griner was sentenced to nine years in Russian prison over
drug-smuggling charges for carrying vape cartridges in her luggage at a
Moscow airport.

The WNBA superstar's trial came to a close Thursday, with the judge
handing down a guilty verdict along with her heavy sentence. Griner has
been detained in Russian jail since February, when she was arrested at
Sheremetyevo Airport after customs agents discovered vape cartridges
that contained hashish oil in her luggage.

Over the month of July, Griner and her legal team have appealed for
leniency after she admitted wrongdoing and pleaded guilty to the charges
against her. Though the defense made the case that Griner inadvertently
brought the drugs in her luggage and that she had been prescribed
medical marijuana back in the US, the two-time Olympic gold medalist
received a near-maximum sentence and now faces the prospect of spending
almost a decade at a Russian penal colony.

The jarring outcome evoked reactions from across the sports ecosystem
and beyond. From basketball and football stars to politicians and
musicians, here's how the world responded to Griner's plight:

See More
A cosmic object that has been pulsing radio waves toward Earth every 22
minutes for more than 30 years has left scientists baffled.

The object is thought to be a dying star that is emitting energy from
its poles. But it's spinning too slowly to exist.

"Assuming it's a magnetar, it shouldn't be possible for this object to
produce radio waves. But we're seeing them," said Natasha Hurley-Walker,
a radio astronomer from Curtin University in Australia who led the
research, in a statement.

A phenomenal cosmic lighthouse that shouldn't exist
An artist's impression of the dying star, The star is thought to be a
magnetar, which is ruled by intense magnetic fields, here shown in
orange. ICRAR
An artist's impression of the dying star, The star is thought to be a
magnetar, which is ruled by intense magnetic fields, here shown in
orange. ICRAR
© ICRAR
This object, given the scientific name of GPM J1839−10, sets itself
apart because it is remarkably slow and remarkably stable.

"Astronomers expect to see some repeating radio signals in space, but
they usually blink on and off much more quickly," Hurley-Walker told The
Conversation.

At the end of their life, stars can collapse into neutron stars,
superdense objects that pack billions of tons of matter into tiny little
spaces, per NASA.

Some neutron stars shoot brilliant beams of light and energy from their
magnetic poles. We only pick up the signal as the beam washes over our
planet, similar to the light from a lighthouse blinking to a boat offshore.

Continue reading
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