Overview
- ASKAP’s radio telescope on Wajarri Country in Australia first picked up the source’s bright 44-minute radio flashes during 2024 observations.
- Follow-up data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory confirmed synchronized 44-minute X-ray variations, marking the first multi-wavelength detection of a long-period transient.
- Located about 15,000 light-years away in the Scutum constellation along the Milky Way’s plane, ASKAP J1832-0911 brightened dramatically in February 2024 after a quieter period.
- The source’s behavior defies current astrophysical models, leading researchers to consider scenarios involving a magnetar core or a highly magnetized white dwarf binary.
- Ongoing coordinated campaigns across radio and X-ray observatories aim to gather more data and uncover similar transients to refine theories of these enigmatic sources.