A MYSTERY cosmic object inside our own galaxy has been detected sending out a pulsing signal that has baffled scientists.
The signal is so out of the ordinary that scientists cannot rule out the possibility that it is coming from an alien civilisation.
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In a new study, published in the journal Acta Astronautica, Nasa scientist Richard Stanton said he discovered an unexpected “signal” coming from a sun-like star 100 light-years from Earth on 14 May, 2023.
Since then, Stanton has observed the pulse of light on three separate occasions.
The signal, from star HD 89389 within the constellation Ursa Major, consisted of two fast, identical pulses 4.4 seconds apart.
They had not been seen in previous searches, according to the study.
The pulses also had several unique characteristics that set them apart from anything scientists had previously observed.
This includes fluctuating light from the nearby star, which got “brighter-fainter-brighter” and made the star “partially disappear in a tenth of a second,” according to Stanton.
The pulses and their individual glows were essentially identical too.
“In over 1500 hours of searching, no single pulse resembling these has ever been detected,” he added.
“The fine structure in the star’s light between the peaks of the first pulse repeats almost exactly in the second pulse 4.4s later. No one knows how to explain this behavior.”
And nothing was moving near the star that could have caused these beams.
Sometimes signals produced by airplanes, satellites, meteors, lightning, atmospheric scintillation, and system noise can appear as cosmic signals.
Although Stanton noted that common signals “are completely different from these pulses”.
The pulses match similar beams of light from a different star observed four years ago, according to Stanton.
In 2019, a similar pair of pulses was detected around sun-like star HD 217014, some 50.6 light-years from Earth.
At the time, the signal was dismissed as a false positive caused by birds, according to Stanton.
However, a further analysis ruled out this possibility.
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The unexplainable pulses could have several causes.
While unlikely, according to Stanton, the pulses could be refracting light caused by Earth’s atmosphere, possibly due to a shock wave.
Other possibilities include starlight diffraction by a distant cosmic object in the solar system, or even partial eclipses caused by Earth satellites or distant asteroids.
Until we learn more, we can’t even say whether or not extraterrestrials are involved.
Nasa scientist Richard Stanton
It could also be a gravity wave that generated these pulses, which requires more research.
“None of these explanations are really satisfying at this point,” said Stanton.
“We don’t know what kind of object could produce these pulses or how far away it is.
“We don’t know if the two-pulse signal is produced by something passing between us and the star or if it is generated by something that modulates the star’s light without moving across the field.
“Until we learn more, we can’t even say whether or not extraterrestrials are involved!”
Over the years, Stanton has surveyed more than 1,300 sun-like stars for optical Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) signals from Big Bear, California.
The SETI project started out of the the Greenbank Observatory in West Bank, Virginia, more than 60 years ago.
Unlike traditional SETI surveys that have used radio antennas, Stanton looks for pulses of light that could result from laser communications or directed-energy arrays.
“My approach is to stare at a single star for roughly one hour using photon counting to sample the star’s light at what is considered a very high time-resolution for astronomy (100 microsecond samples),” Stanton, a veteran of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), explained.
“The resulting time series are then searched for pulses and optical tones.
“The instrument uses readily available off-the-shelf components that can be assembled into a PC-based system. I’m not sure if anyone else is doing this with a significant time commitment.
“I am not aware of any discovery of similar pulses.”
Stanton, who is now retired, had previously worked on the Voyager missions and served as the Engineering Manager of the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission.
