CANBERRA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Australian scientists have detected unprecedented behavior from a nearby previously dormant star.
In a study published on Tuesday, a team of researchers led by national science agency the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) described unusual radio pulses from the magnetar XTE J1810-197.
A magnetar is a type of neutron star with an extremely powerful magnetic field.
By using the CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope, the researchers found that XTE J1810-197 - the closest magnetar to Earth at 8,000 light years away - emits circularly polarized light, making the light appear to spiral as it moves through space.
Marcus Lower, lead author of the study from the CSIRO, said the findings were unexpected and unprecedented.
"Unlike the radio signals we've seen from other magnetars, this one is emitting enormous amounts of rapidly changing circular polarization. We had never seen anything like this before," he said in a media release.
He said results suggest that there is a superheated plasma above the star's magnetic pole that is causing the phenomenon - but that how the plasma is causing it is unknown.
Radio signals from XTE J1810-197 were first detected in 2003 before the star went dormant for over 10 years.
It is one of a few magnetars that is known to produce radio pulses.
Manisha Caleb, a co-author of the research from the University of Sydney, said that studying magnetars offers valuable insight into the physics of intense magnetic fields and the environments they create. ■
