Something in space has been lighting up every 20 minutes since 1988
July 21, 2023 7:39 PM Subscribe
On Wednesday, researchers announced the discovery of a new astronomical enigma. The new object, GPM J1839–10 [...] takes 22 minutes between pulses. [...] The list of known objects that can produce this sort of behavior is short and consists of precisely zero items. John Timmer writes 900 words for Ars Technica.
But there is one item that produces this sort of behavior. Why isn't that item on that list?
posted by hippybear at 7:45 PM on July 21, 2023 [16 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 7:45 PM on July 21, 2023 [16 favorites]
Eat at Xrfnplnzq's Cafe......Eat at Xrfnplnzq's Cafe......Eat at Xrfnplnzq's Cafe......Eat at Xrfnplnzq's Cafe......Eat at Xrfnplnzq's Cafe.....Eat at Xrfnplnzq's Cafe......
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:45 PM on July 21, 2023 [35 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:45 PM on July 21, 2023 [35 favorites]
Someone didn't connect the star to a power supply, and now the battery is low.
posted by Roverlaw at 8:06 PM on July 21, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by Roverlaw at 8:06 PM on July 21, 2023 [11 favorites]
Maybe it's a smoke alarm that needs a new battery? And we've finally figured out where the beeping is coming from.
posted by hippybear at 8:11 PM on July 21, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 8:11 PM on July 21, 2023 [11 favorites]
Rare instances in lonely astrometrics.
"This is called "recycling" because it returns the neutron star to a quickly-spinning state. Finally, the second star also explodes in a supernova, producing another neutron star. If this second explosion also fails to disrupt the binary, a double neutron star binary is formed. Otherwise, the spun-up neutron star is left with no companion and becomes a "disrupted recycled pulsar", spinning between a few and 50 times per second.[39]
posted by clavdivs at 8:14 PM on July 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
"This is called "recycling" because it returns the neutron star to a quickly-spinning state. Finally, the second star also explodes in a supernova, producing another neutron star. If this second explosion also fails to disrupt the binary, a double neutron star binary is formed. Otherwise, the spun-up neutron star is left with no companion and becomes a "disrupted recycled pulsar", spinning between a few and 50 times per second.[39]
posted by clavdivs at 8:14 PM on July 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Every 22 minutes? a streaming service asking if you are still watching that network sitcom
posted by Ultracrepidarian at 8:51 PM on July 21, 2023 [22 favorites]
posted by Ultracrepidarian at 8:51 PM on July 21, 2023 [22 favorites]
Maybe it's a Space Lighthouse. It's parked on the shoals of a part of the Universe where Here There Be Dragons, and if we think we don't understand this lighthouse as an object, do we even want to know about the Dragons?
posted by hippybear at 8:56 PM on July 21, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 8:56 PM on July 21, 2023 [6 favorites]
anyone who played Outer Wilds knows what this is
posted by Merus at 9:05 PM on July 21, 2023 [29 favorites]
posted by Merus at 9:05 PM on July 21, 2023 [29 favorites]
Somebody or something is goofing on us.
When I was in college many many pulses ago, my roommate and I were bored and decided to see what would happen if we dropped a lacrosse ball (loud thud) on the floor (cement with tile over it) exactly every 5 minutes. We wanted to see if the guy downstairs from us noticed. It took about 45 minutes (10 drops) for someone to come upstairs and bang on our door screaming to stop it. I bravely opened the door. He was not happy but did notice every 5 minutes about 5 or 6 drops in. Turned out that that dorm mate was my housemate 3 years later.
So maybe someone or something is bored and seeing if we notice.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 9:07 PM on July 21, 2023 [5 favorites]
When I was in college many many pulses ago, my roommate and I were bored and decided to see what would happen if we dropped a lacrosse ball (loud thud) on the floor (cement with tile over it) exactly every 5 minutes. We wanted to see if the guy downstairs from us noticed. It took about 45 minutes (10 drops) for someone to come upstairs and bang on our door screaming to stop it. I bravely opened the door. He was not happy but did notice every 5 minutes about 5 or 6 drops in. Turned out that that dorm mate was my housemate 3 years later.
So maybe someone or something is bored and seeing if we notice.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 9:07 PM on July 21, 2023 [5 favorites]
Astronomical researchers have not been able to locate 90% of the universe for the last fifty years, but I guess it's nice they have something new to look at.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:14 PM on July 21, 2023 [14 favorites]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:14 PM on July 21, 2023 [14 favorites]
After decades of analysis using quantum computers running heuristic intelligence models, the signal pattern was finally decoded and found to be nothing more than a funny cat video—the most viewed funny cat video in the entire galaxy.
posted by jabah at 9:18 PM on July 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by jabah at 9:18 PM on July 21, 2023 [2 favorites]
Why isn't that item on that list?
It specifies a list of known objects, and we do not know what GPM J1839–10 is.
posted by zamboni at 10:06 PM on July 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
It specifies a list of known objects, and we do not know what GPM J1839–10 is.
posted by zamboni at 10:06 PM on July 21, 2023 [3 favorites]
someone or something is bored and seeing if we notice
Yep. We're all just inhabiting some bored, teenage super-alien's ant farm.
posted by slater at 10:12 PM on July 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yep. We're all just inhabiting some bored, teenage super-alien's ant farm.
posted by slater at 10:12 PM on July 21, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yep. We're all just inhabiting some bored, teenage super-alien's ant farm.
So that's why it been getting hotter and hotter lately.
posted by Garm at 10:36 PM on July 21, 2023 [9 favorites]
So that's why it been getting hotter and hotter lately.
posted by Garm at 10:36 PM on July 21, 2023 [9 favorites]
You know, it's like, GPM J1839–10 being GPM J1839–10. Playin' it all cool and laid back. "Boop. Hey, I'm GPM J1839–10."
posted by not_on_display at 11:13 PM on July 21, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by not_on_display at 11:13 PM on July 21, 2023 [5 favorites]
> The new object, GPM J1839–10 [...] takes 22 minutes between pulses.
I caught them when they opened for Brian Eno back in Berlin.
posted by sebastienbailard at 11:26 PM on July 21, 2023 [29 favorites]
I caught them when they opened for Brian Eno back in Berlin.
posted by sebastienbailard at 11:26 PM on July 21, 2023 [29 favorites]
anyone who played Outer Wilds knows what this is
We'll need a radio telescope to listen to the last two minutes of the cycle to be sure.
posted by straight at 11:30 PM on July 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
We'll need a radio telescope to listen to the last two minutes of the cycle to be sure.
posted by straight at 11:30 PM on July 21, 2023 [4 favorites]
Maybe it's a 22-minute Acid Mothers Temple song playing on repeat.
posted by abraxasaxarba at 11:48 PM on July 21, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by abraxasaxarba at 11:48 PM on July 21, 2023 [6 favorites]
"Mommy, I'm boooooooooored..."
posted by praemunire at 1:37 AM on July 22, 2023
posted by praemunire at 1:37 AM on July 22, 2023
Maybe a dead man’s switch (or very simple numbers station) just on a planetary scale.
posted by rongorongo at 3:21 AM on July 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by rongorongo at 3:21 AM on July 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
*Downloads the Galactic Park Service app*.
“Oh hey! The Old Faithful pulsar erupts in 17 more minutes, should we go?” “Have you even seen the parking lots in the Milky Way? Fuck that”
(Based on a true Yellowstone story)
posted by inflatablekiwi at 5:14 AM on July 22, 2023 [7 favorites]
“Oh hey! The Old Faithful pulsar erupts in 17 more minutes, should we go?” “Have you even seen the parking lots in the Milky Way? Fuck that”
(Based on a true Yellowstone story)
posted by inflatablekiwi at 5:14 AM on July 22, 2023 [7 favorites]
When I saw "astronomical enigma" in the FPP, I thought it was going to be Two-faced star with helium and hydrogen sides baffles astronomers.
posted by clawsoon at 5:21 AM on July 22, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by clawsoon at 5:21 AM on July 22, 2023 [5 favorites]
I clicked into this thread, after having little interest in astronomy outside of beautiful pictures, based on just having listened to the 7/20/2023 episode of Let's Learn Everything which talks about gravitational waves! Synchronicity!
posted by Night_owl at 6:32 AM on July 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Night_owl at 6:32 AM on July 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
Too much fun
On the Kessel run?
Running late
At the Tannhauser Gate?
C-beams wave
Burma-Shave
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 7:24 AM on July 22, 2023 [58 favorites]
On the Kessel run?
Running late
At the Tannhauser Gate?
C-beams wave
Burma-Shave
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 7:24 AM on July 22, 2023 [58 favorites]
Follow-on observations showed that the object repeated pretty regularly, with a periodicity of about 1,320 seconds (more commonly known as 22 minutes).This Pulsar Has 22 Minutes. (If you are baffled by this reference, you are probably not Canadian.)
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:49 AM on July 22, 2023 [13 favorites]
It's in the Galactic plane, so not visible. Apparently also not detectable outside the RF spectrum. Which is reported by Ars as though that means it only emits RF. But what if there's stuff coming out all the way up to X rays that are getting absorbed by the galactic crud background?
I'm no expert but I'd think that would open up some not-ridiculous explanations.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 8:03 AM on July 22, 2023
I'm no expert but I'd think that would open up some not-ridiculous explanations.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 8:03 AM on July 22, 2023
ricochet biscuit beat me to it... It's the CBC's intergalactic thingy
posted by JoeXIII007 at 8:12 AM on July 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by JoeXIII007 at 8:12 AM on July 22, 2023 [3 favorites]
Two-faced star with helium and hydrogen sides baffles astronomers.
Wow, that's also crazy weird. Thanks for the link, clawsoon!
posted by straight at 9:15 AM on July 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
Wow, that's also crazy weird. Thanks for the link, clawsoon!
posted by straight at 9:15 AM on July 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
31 comments and no one's made the joke about your car's extended warranty? I salute y'all!
Ars Technica has had good articles lately, not sure if I hadn't noticed before, or they've upped their game.
posted by theora55 at 9:20 AM on July 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
Ars Technica has had good articles lately, not sure if I hadn't noticed before, or they've upped their game.
posted by theora55 at 9:20 AM on July 22, 2023 [2 favorites]
Rapid-cycling OnOff star helping keep us all Blight-free!
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:47 AM on July 22, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:47 AM on July 22, 2023 [4 favorites]
Goddamnit, Multicellular, I was trying to think of a Burma Shave joke but couldn't quite get there.
posted by praemunire at 10:23 AM on July 22, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 10:23 AM on July 22, 2023 [4 favorites]
Seems like this thread is in desperate need of a tl/dr, so:
It is not 22 minutes on the dot. That's the average, but there's a wide error bar on that (close to 7 minutes). Sometimes, such a period even passes entirely with no bursts.
Also, that's not the only highly variable thing about it: The length of any given burst can vary (30 seconds to 5 minutes). The intensity of the main burst can vary. And I say "main" burst because there can be "lots of sub-bursts" during the activity.
To my mind, that all says "Don't get your hopes up; it's not going to be aliens", but simultaneously screams "OMG IT'S TOTALLY DEFINITELY ALIENS". I would very much like there to be fully dedicated continuous monitoring of it, so that we can look for any potential patterns (which, I imagine, would be of interest even if it's not aliens). Unfortunately, as the article says, "that involves a major commitment of hardware"... and they mean that about a much lesser goal (i.e. not continuous monitoring).
posted by Flunkie at 4:46 PM on July 22, 2023 [6 favorites]
It is not 22 minutes on the dot. That's the average, but there's a wide error bar on that (close to 7 minutes). Sometimes, such a period even passes entirely with no bursts.
Also, that's not the only highly variable thing about it: The length of any given burst can vary (30 seconds to 5 minutes). The intensity of the main burst can vary. And I say "main" burst because there can be "lots of sub-bursts" during the activity.
To my mind, that all says "Don't get your hopes up; it's not going to be aliens", but simultaneously screams "OMG IT'S TOTALLY DEFINITELY ALIENS". I would very much like there to be fully dedicated continuous monitoring of it, so that we can look for any potential patterns (which, I imagine, would be of interest even if it's not aliens). Unfortunately, as the article says, "that involves a major commitment of hardware"... and they mean that about a much lesser goal (i.e. not continuous monitoring).
posted by Flunkie at 4:46 PM on July 22, 2023 [6 favorites]
If it were aliens, how much power would they have to dedicate to this? Like, are we talking a nuke every 20 minutes, or are we talking magnitudes more power than that?
posted by clawsoon at 4:54 PM on July 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by clawsoon at 4:54 PM on July 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
Rapid-cycling OnOff star helping keep us all Blight-free!
Coming from the galactic plane, this thing is likely in the Unthinking Depths.
posted by straight at 5:02 PM on July 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
Coming from the galactic plane, this thing is likely in the Unthinking Depths.
posted by straight at 5:02 PM on July 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
My sister was born in 1988. Just sayin.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 5:03 PM on July 22, 2023
posted by Mister Moofoo at 5:03 PM on July 22, 2023
"Astronomical researchers have not been able to locate 90% of the universe for the last fifty years..."
I posit that's a particle physics problem, not an astronomy problem. Or maybe it's just not there.
posted by Rufous-headed Towhee heehee at 6:36 PM on July 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
I posit that's a particle physics problem, not an astronomy problem. Or maybe it's just not there.
posted by Rufous-headed Towhee heehee at 6:36 PM on July 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
Seems like this thread is in desperate need of a tl/dr, so:
It is not 22 minutes on the dot. That's the average, but there's a wide error bar on that (close to 7 minutes). Sometimes, such a period even passes entirely with no bursts...
Buzz kill
posted by JohnnyGunn at 9:37 PM on July 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
It is not 22 minutes on the dot. That's the average, but there's a wide error bar on that (close to 7 minutes). Sometimes, such a period even passes entirely with no bursts...
Buzz kill
posted by JohnnyGunn at 9:37 PM on July 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
That's what I'm here for!
posted by Flunkie at 10:09 PM on July 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Flunkie at 10:09 PM on July 22, 2023 [1 favorite]
“If it were aliens, how much power would they have to dedicate to this? Like, are we talking a nuke every 20 minutes, or are we talking magnitudes more power than that?”
It's many more orders of magnitude. So many more, that your unit of "nuke" is meaningless. A typical solar flare, which itself is pretty much zero energy compared to this source, is equivalent to about 24 million fusion bombs (each of which is equal to about a thousand of the Hiroshima bombs). If it's aliens we probably have nothing to say to each other and, for us, that's almost certainly for the best. Personally, I'd fly away, not toward, any evidence of astroengineering.†
It's really tempting for me to speculate about what this might be and I can think of several very handwavy explanations which are all probably laughably wrongheaded. But my first thought is that our observation of this source (not the source itself) is being mediated by something else. But maybe the source itself is some complex process involving multiple bodies.
My intuition tells me — perhaps falsely, because at best I'm an astro fanboy — that at these extreme levels of energy, irregularity is usually short-lived so the more plausible explanations suffer from ignoring the implausibility of us happening to be looking during the transient (in astronomical time) irregularity. But of course that would explain why we don't see more of these. This is what happens when you only have one example of something. Every explanation is very weak.
† That was an outrageous lie. I'd fly toward it as fast as I could get there because I have a demonstrated tendency toward intense curiosity untempered by any sense of self-preservation. At the age of four, I wandered off into the mountains from a campground and was lost for hours and I've not developed better sense in the subsequent five decades.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 4:07 AM on July 23, 2023 [5 favorites]
It's many more orders of magnitude. So many more, that your unit of "nuke" is meaningless. A typical solar flare, which itself is pretty much zero energy compared to this source, is equivalent to about 24 million fusion bombs (each of which is equal to about a thousand of the Hiroshima bombs). If it's aliens we probably have nothing to say to each other and, for us, that's almost certainly for the best. Personally, I'd fly away, not toward, any evidence of astroengineering.†
It's really tempting for me to speculate about what this might be and I can think of several very handwavy explanations which are all probably laughably wrongheaded. But my first thought is that our observation of this source (not the source itself) is being mediated by something else. But maybe the source itself is some complex process involving multiple bodies.
My intuition tells me — perhaps falsely, because at best I'm an astro fanboy — that at these extreme levels of energy, irregularity is usually short-lived so the more plausible explanations suffer from ignoring the implausibility of us happening to be looking during the transient (in astronomical time) irregularity. But of course that would explain why we don't see more of these. This is what happens when you only have one example of something. Every explanation is very weak.
† That was an outrageous lie. I'd fly toward it as fast as I could get there because I have a demonstrated tendency toward intense curiosity untempered by any sense of self-preservation. At the age of four, I wandered off into the mountains from a campground and was lost for hours and I've not developed better sense in the subsequent five decades.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 4:07 AM on July 23, 2023 [5 favorites]
The article just feels like weak manufactured drama to me. So what if it's nothing experts have seen before? Many unusual astronomical phenomena start out with baffled head-scratching and slowly work toward an explanation. Some kind of irregular rotating dust cloud with a strong energetic source behind it? A new kind of pulsar who structure allows slower, irregular rotation? At this point who knows. Collect more data, model and test, repeat. That's science.
In any case, not aliens.
posted by aught at 5:15 AM on July 23, 2023
In any case, not aliens.
posted by aught at 5:15 AM on July 23, 2023
The article just feels like weak manufactured drama to me
Scientific mysteries should be newsworthy, even if only on a slow news day. The article doesn’t make grandiose claims, or even mention aliens, it just reports on a scientific curiosity, explaining why it’s interesting, and how we might make progress on coming up with a solution.
posted by zamboni at 5:49 AM on July 23, 2023 [6 favorites]
Scientific mysteries should be newsworthy, even if only on a slow news day. The article doesn’t make grandiose claims, or even mention aliens, it just reports on a scientific curiosity, explaining why it’s interesting, and how we might make progress on coming up with a solution.
posted by zamboni at 5:49 AM on July 23, 2023 [6 favorites]
"We have been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty . . ."
posted by KingEdRa at 2:09 PM on July 23, 2023
posted by KingEdRa at 2:09 PM on July 23, 2023
"Drink . . . more . . . Ovaltine"
posted by KingEdRa at 2:09 PM on July 23, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by KingEdRa at 2:09 PM on July 23, 2023 [2 favorites]
Maybe it's a smoke alarm that needs a new battery? And we've finally figured out where the beeping is coming from.
Having (many-a-time) existed:not-existed on the edge of the Schrodinger's Smoke Alarm singularity, IAWTP (I agree with this post ) hb :)
posted by splifingate at 4:44 PM on July 24, 2023
Having (many-a-time) existed:not-existed on the edge of the Schrodinger's Smoke Alarm singularity, IAWTP (I agree with this post ) hb :)
posted by splifingate at 4:44 PM on July 24, 2023
Coming from the galactic plane, this thing is likely in the Unthinking Depths.
Inhabiting the Slow Zone, I can't help but to give this a 6 on the Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness :)
posted by splifingate at 4:56 PM on July 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
Inhabiting the Slow Zone, I can't help but to give this a 6 on the Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness :)
posted by splifingate at 4:56 PM on July 24, 2023 [2 favorites]
> So what if it's nothing experts have seen before?
Being slightly pedantic, it's not newsworthy because we haven't seen it before, but rather because we don't have a theory to match it with. That's neat! I certainly want to hear about new weird stuff.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 1:11 PM on July 25, 2023
Being slightly pedantic, it's not newsworthy because we haven't seen it before, but rather because we don't have a theory to match it with. That's neat! I certainly want to hear about new weird stuff.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 1:11 PM on July 25, 2023
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Alien VCR?
posted by Reasonably Everything Happens at 7:43 PM on July 21, 2023 [8 favorites]