ASKAP Team Identifies 1.4-Hour Binary as Source of Long-Period Radio Transients
Updated
Updated · Universe Today · Jun 7
ASKAP Team Identifies 1.4-Hour Binary as Source of Long-Period Radio Transients
3 articles · Updated · Universe Today · Jun 7
Summary
ASKAP J1745−5051 has been pinned down as a long-sought source of long-period radio transients, ending a more than 20-year search for the origin of the rare repeating signals.
The binary pairs a white dwarf with a roughly 0.10-solar-mass red dwarf; gas stripped from the companion accretes onto the white dwarf, driving radio bursts and X-rays on a 1.4-hour cycle.
Observations showed the radio and X-ray peaks do not coincide, indicating they arise in different regions of the system and tying the repeating signals to the stars’ orbital motion.
The result strengthens the idea that at least some long-period transients come from accreting white-dwarf binaries rather than magnetars, and gives astronomers a reference system for decoding the roughly dozen known cases.
Now that one source of long-period radio signals is found, could other, stranger cosmic objects be creating the rest?
Why do this star's radio and X-ray pulses beat out of sync, and what does this reveal about cosmic magnetism?
This 'Rosetta Stone' star solved one mystery, but what new secrets of extreme physics will it help us translate next?
ASKAP J1745−5051: The First Confirmed Source of Long-Period Radio Transients Solves a 20-Year Cosmic Mystery
Overview
A University of Sydney-led team made a major breakthrough by using the ASKAP radio telescope to identify ASKAP J1745−5051 as the source of mysterious long-period radio transients. This discovery is the first time scientists have definitively confirmed the exact cause of such periodic cosmic signals, marking a crucial step in understanding these phenomena. ASKAP J1745−5051 is also only the second known long-period radio transient to produce regular X-rays. By pinpointing this binary system, researchers have provided a clear explanation for signals that have puzzled astronomers for years, opening new directions for future research.