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7th July 2025

Unknown Object Is Firing Signals At Earth Every 44 Minutes, Baffling Scientists

Scientists announced in late May that an unknown object is firing a signal toward Earth every 44 minutes, and no one has any clue what it is … and it’s not alone

The object, oh-so-catchily named “ASKAP J1832-0911,” emits pulses of radio waves and X-rays for a full two minutes every 44 minutes, according to a statement shared by astronomers at the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), in collaboration with other international teams. This is the first time a signal like this — known as a long-period transient (LPT) — has been detected in X-rays. (MORE NEWS: Best Crops To Grow During A Nuclear Apocalypse, According To Scientists)

It is unclear how or where the signal is coming from, but the researchers proposed models of highly magnetized neutron stars, white-dwarf pulsars, and more to explain the phenomenon, according to the study published in the journal Nature.

How Was The Signal Found?

A team working at the ASKAP radio telescope in Wajarri Country, Australia, discovered ASKAP J1832-0911 by correlating the radio signals with X-ray pulses detected by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. Both teams happened to be observing the same part of the sky when the signals were detected.

“Discovering that ASKAP J1832-0911 was emitting X-rays felt like finding a needle in a haystack,” said lead author Dr Ziteng (Andy) Wang from the Curtin University node of ICRAR. “The ASKAP radio telescope has a wide field view of the night sky, while Chandra observes only a fraction of it. So, it was fortunate that Chandra observed the same area of the night sky at the same time.”

The LPT Is Not Alone

LPTs like ASKAP J1832-0911 are a “relatively recent discovery,” the team noted, having only been first detected in 2022. Since then, at least 10 LPTs — signals of unknown origin — have been discovered by astronomers around the world.

Many LPTs are linked to magnetars — neutron stars with extremely strong magnetic fields — but the actual characteristics and physical nature of LPTs are still hotly debated within the scientific community. (RELATED Science NEWS: Hurricane Warnings Ramp Up For Summer With ‘Above Normal’ Forecast)

“ASKAP J1831-0911 could be a magnetar (the core of a dead star with powerful magnetic fields), or it could be a pair of stars in a binary system where one of the two is a highly magnetized white dwarf (a low-mass star at the end of its evolution),” noted Wang. “However, even those theories do not fully explain what we are observing. This discovery could indicate a new type of physics or new models of stellar evolution.”

TMM Analysis

The scientific community hasn’t had enough time to study LPTs and figure out exactly what they are, but most of the theories revolve around different types of stars and deeply hypothetical physical sciences that are often debunked.

Are we worried that this is an Occam’s Razor situation? Yes — we’re talking about intelligent life outside of Earth sending these signals out into the depths of space. Humanity has sent messages into the abyss; perhaps some of these strange sounds are other cosmic species sending us a “hello.”

Do you believe we’re alone in the universe? No matter how you feel — email us via editor@themodernmemo.com — and tell us what you think is out there.

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Modern Memo Editorial Staff

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