Discovered new powerful space object – which does not fit in any known category

Astronomers do not yet know what it is. When placed in context, Punctum is surprisingly brilliant.

A disconcertingly powerful object found in a nearby galaxy and only visible so far in millimeter radio wavelengths can be a new object astrophysical completely From all that astronomers have seen before.

The mysterious object, discovered by a team of researchers led by the astronoma Elena shablovinskaiaDa Universidad Diego Portales, no Chile, Foi designated ‘Point‘, name derived from Latin pūnctum meaning “point” or “point”.

Outside the kingdom of supermassive black holes, the now discovered punctum “is genuinely powerful“, Disse shablovinskaia ao.

The astronomers They still don’t know what it is – Just that it is compact, it has a surprisingly structured magnetic field and, in its center, is an object that radiates intense amounts of energy.

“When the places in context, Punctum is surprisingly brilliant – 10,000 to 100,000 times brighter than typical Magnetares, about 100 times brighter than microquasars, and 10 to 100 times brighter than almost all known supernovae, surpassed only by the crab nebula Among the stars -related sources in our galaxy, ”said Shablovinskaia.

Punchum is located in the active galaxy, which is a very Near our Galaxy Via Milkylocated 18 million light years away. This is only beyond the ends of the local group.

However, despite this proximity, cannot be seen in optical light or x-rays, but only in millimeter radio wavelengths-which only deepened the mystery.

The discovery was presented in an article that was accepted for publication by the magazine Astronomy & Astrophysicsbeing in pre-impression in the astro.ph.

What could be Punctum?

The brightness of the mysterious object remained the same over several observations made with the soul – Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array – in 2023, which means that it It is not an eruption or some other type of transient phenomenon.

The radiation of millimeter waves Typically come from cold objectslike young protoplanetary discs and interstellar molecular clouds.

However, very energetic phenomena like quasars and pulsar They can also produce radio waves through syncrotrão radiation, where charged particles moving near the speed of light spirala around magnetic field lines and radiate radio waves.

What we know about Puncutum is that, based on how strongly polarized is its millimeter light, must have a highly structured magnetic field.

Thus, Elena Shablovinskaia believes that what we are seeing from Puncutum is radiation sinrotron. Objects with strong polarization tend to be compact objects, because larger objects have confused magnetic fields that eliminate any polarization.

The team believes that perhaps this synchronic radiation is being fed by a Magnetar – a highly magnetic pulsating.

However, while a magnetic field ordered a magnetar fits the profile, magnetares (and regular pulsars) They are much weaker In millimeter wave lengths of what Punctum is.

Remnants of supernovae such as the crab nebula, which are the confusing interiors exploded to the space of a star that exploded at 1054 AD, are bright in millimeter wavelengths.

The problem is that supernova remnants are quite large – the Crab is about 18 light years in diameter-while Punctum is clearly a much smaller and compact object.

“At the moment, punctum truly stands out. Don’t fit comfortably in no known category“, Diz shablovinskaia.” E honestamente, Nothing like this has appeared so far In no anterior millimeter survey, largely because, until recently, we had nothing as sensitive and of high resolution as soul. ”

There is the caveat that Punctum It can be just an atypical case: An extreme version of a familiar object, such as magnetar in an unusual environment, or a remnant of Supernova interacting with dense material.

For now, however, theseonly assumptions without evidence support. It is quite possible that Punctum is really the first of a new type of astrophysical object we have not seen before simply because only soul can detect them.

In the case of Punctum, it is 100 times weaker than the active nucleus of NGC 4945which is to be energized by a supermassive black hole to feed on the falling matter. Punctum would probably not have been noticed at all in the soul data – if it were not for its exceptionally strong polarization.

“In any case,” concluded Shablovinskaia, “Punctum is showing us that There is a long time to discover in the millimeter sky“.