Blinking radio pulses from space hint at a cosmic object that ‘shouldn’t exist’

By Manisha Caleb, Senior Lecturer in Astrophysics, University of Sydney
Yu Wing Joshua Lee, PhD Student in Radio Astronomy, University of Sydney

When some of the biggest stars reach the end of their lives, they explode in spectacular supernovas and leave behind incredibly dense cores called neutron stars. Some of these remnants emit powerful radio beams from their magnetic poles.

As the star spins, these beams sweep past Earth and produce periodic pulses of radio waves, much like a cosmic lighthouse. This behaviour has earned them the name “pulsars”.

Pulsars typically spin incredibly fast, often completing a full rotation in just seconds – or even less. Over the last three years, some mysterious objects have emerged…

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