NASA Detects Mysterious Object Sending Signals to Earth Every 44 Minutes

If the vast unknowns of outer space already give you chills, this latest discovery from NASA might just send your imagination into overdrive.

Astronomers have detected a bizarre celestial object that emits powerful bursts of energy every 44 minutes—a pattern never before observed. Known as ASKAP J1832–0911, the object lies about 16,000 light-years from Earth and was found entirely by accident.

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A Cosmic Mystery Unlike Any Other

The object was discovered using Australia’s ASKAP (Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder) radio telescope. Unlike typical pulsars, which are rotating neutron stars that pulse radiation with precise regularity—often milliseconds or seconds apart—ASKAP J1832 pulses at a much slower rate, making it part of a rare class known as long-period radio transients.

Each signal it sends lasts about two minutes, followed by a 44-minute pause before it lights up again.

But radio waves aren't the only emissions this object releases. Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, scientists confirmed that it also pulses in X-rays on the exact same cycle—making this the first-ever object known to behave this way.

“This object is unlike anything we have seen before,” said Andy Wang, lead author and astronomer at Curtin University in Perth, Australia.

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What Could It Be?

Theories abound, but none fully explain the strange behavior of ASKAP J1832–0911.

It could be:

• A magnetar – a type of neutron star with an extremely powerful magnetic field.

• A binary star system – possibly involving a highly magnetized white dwarf, a low-mass star at the final stage of its life.

Yet, as Wang pointed out, “Even those theories don’t fully explain what we are observing.”

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A Sudden Change Deepens the Mystery

Perhaps the most baffling twist came six months after the initial discovery.

When astronomers returned to observe ASKAP in August, they found its radio signal had dimmed by a factor of 1,000—and no X-rays were detected at all.

“We looked at several different possibilities involving neutron stars and white dwarfs, either in isolation or with companion stars,” said co-author Nanda Rea of the Institute of Space Sciences in Barcelona. “So far, nothing exactly matches up, but some ideas work better than others.”

Adding to the intrigue, the object appears aligned in the sky with a supernova remnant—the remains of an exploded star. However, researchers believe this is likely just a cosmic coincidence, with ASKAP situated in the background and the supernova debris floating in the foreground like a passing cloud.

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An Unsolved Puzzle Among the Stars

For now, ASKAP J1832–0911 remains a cosmic enigma, defying current models of how stars behave and evolve.

“Finding a mystery like this isn’t frustrating,” said co-author Tong Bao of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics. “It’s what makes science exciting.”

With each unanswered question, ASKAP reminds us of how little we truly know about the universe—and how much more there is still to discover.