The GLEAM-X J0704-37 radio transient is a short-lived recurring event that is unlike any other. New research has not only found its likely source, but also explained its origin.
Mysterious radio transient
Scientists from the International Center for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) have investigated the mysterious radio transit GLEAM-X J0704-37. To do this, they used telescopes operating in different wavelength ranges. The results are published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Transients in astronomy are signals that don’t last continuously, but appear for some period of time. Some of them are repetitive. Those observed in lower frequency bands than visible light are called radio transients.
Among others of its kind, GLEAM-X J0704-37 is distinguished by its duration of 30-60 seconds and the fact that it repeats every three hours. Transients with such periodicity are very few and, except that they originate from our galaxy, scientists know almost nothing about them.
More importantly, scientists still could not understand what process could produce such a strange periodicity – not milliseconds, not days, not years, but precisely tens of seconds and hours. The signal was known to be coming from a relatively empty area of the galaxy toward the constellation Puppis at a distance of about 5,000 light-years from us.
Amazing system
At this stage began a new study, scientists used several radio telescopes, in particular South African MeerKAT and so were able to find an object from which most likely came this signal.
At first, this result seemed extremely strange to scientists, because these super-light stars simply don’t have enough energy to generate such powerful signals. So, instead of one riddle, scientists got another.
However, they quickly enough found a probable explanation. In fact, the red dwarf is part of a tight binary system. The second component in it is a white dwarf, a star much smaller in size but also noticeably more massive. Their interaction generates the signals that scientists have been observing for at least 10 years.
Provided by phys.org
