{"id":709346,"date":"2026-06-02T05:18:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T05:18:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/709346\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T05:18:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T05:18:19","slug":"student-astronomer-discovers-rosetta-stone-for-mysterious-cosmic-signals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/709346\/","title":{"rendered":"Student astronomer discovers \u2018Rosetta stone\u2019 for mysterious cosmic signals"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\"Accreting<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

image:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Artists\u2019 impression of the white dwarf binary ASKAP J1745-5051. The smaller, dense white dwarf star is accreting material from the larger, but less dense red dwarf star. The interaction of their magnetic fields and the heat from the material accretion creates signals in radio and X-ray light frequencies.<\/p>\n

view more\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Credit: Credit: Carl Knox (OzGrav\/Swinburne) and Dr Joshua Preston Pritchard (CSIRO).<\/p>\n

An international team led by astronomers at the University of Sydney has\u00a0uncovered\u00a0the clearest evidence yet for the origin of\u00a0an unusual class of\u00a0cosmic\u00a0signals. In doing so, they\u00a0have identified\u00a0a rare stellar system that is providing scientists with a natural laboratory to study extreme physics.<\/p>\n

Using CSIRO\u2019s ASKAP radio telescope, the team discovered a small, dense star, called a white dwarf, shredding material from its larger, but less dense, companion star.<\/p>\n

As this material spirals in, it produces powerful bursts of radio waves and X-rays in a cycle that repeats every 1.4 hours.<\/p>\n

The findings are published in Nature Astronomy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lead author and PhD student Kovi Rose<\/a> from the University of Sydney\u2019s School of Physics<\/a> and CSIRO said this provides the first confirmed identification of a what astronomers call \u2018long-period radio transients\u2019: cosmic pulses discovered from just a few remote regions of our galaxy.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the first time we have pinpointed the origin of these signals, confirming the source to be a \u2018cataclysmic variable\u2019, or an accreting white dwarf star,\u201d said Mr Rose.<\/p>\n

\u201cLong-period radio transients have puzzled astronomers for years,\u201d Mr Rose said. \u201cWe\u2019ve only found about a dozen, and their origins have been unclear. Now, we\u2019ve been able to show that the source for one of these transients comes from a white dwarf actively pulling material from a companion star.\u201d<\/p>\n

A rare and revealing system<\/p>\n

The newly identified system, named ASKAP J1745\u22125051, consists of a white dwarf \u2013 a dense stellar remnant roughly the size of Earth but with the mass close to that of the Sun \u2013 paired with a larger but lower-mass red dwarf star of about one-tenth the Sun\u2019s mass. The two stars orbit each other extremely closely, completing a full orbit in just over an hour.<\/p>\n

As material from the less massive star is drawn towards the white dwarf, it heats up and emits X-rays. At the same time, interactions between the stars\u2019 magnetic fields generate regular radio bursts, meaning the signal occurs at specific intervals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese emissions are all tied to the orbital motion of the system,\u201d Mr Rose said. \u201cBut interestingly, the radio and X-ray signals don\u2019t peak at the same time, which tells us they\u2019re being produced in different regions of the system.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team found that the radio emission likely originates where the magnetic fields of the two stars meet and interact with the charged material being ripped from the companion star, producing tightly beamed bursts of radiation.<\/p>\n

Solving a cosmic mystery<\/p>\n

Long-period radio transients were initially thought to be slow-spinning neutron stars, known as pulsars. However, current models suggest neutron stars rotating this slowly should not be able to produce such signals.<\/p>\n

The new discovery strengthens an alternative explanation: that at least some of these mysterious bursts come from systems of two stars, involving white dwarfs.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome similar objects had been linked to binary systems before, but this is the first one where we can clearly see both stars and the accretion process in action,\u201d said Professor Murphy, Head of School at the University of Sydney School of Physics and Chief Investigator at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The system is also only the second known long-period radio transient to emit regular X-rays \u2013 and the first where the cause of the regularity has been confirmed.<\/p>\n

A \u2018Rosetta stone\u2019 for future discoveries<\/p>\n

This unique system was discovered using the ASKAP radio telescope<\/a>, owned and operated by CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency. ASKAP\u2019s mix of coverage, resolution, and sensitivity is unparalleled in radio astronomy, allowing for such unusual signals to be detected that would otherwise be missed.<\/p>\n

The researchers say that ASKAP J1745-5051 could act as a reference point for understanding other long-period radio transients.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis system gives us a way to decode these signals. It could help us determine whether other long-period transients are more like pulsars or like white dwarf systems, acting like a stellar Rosetta stone,\u201d said Mr Rose, referring to the archaeological object discovered in Egypt that helped translate ancient hieroglyphics.<\/p>\n

The discovery also provides a unique opportunity to study extreme plasma physics and magnetic interactions under conditions that cannot be replicated on Earth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese systems are natural laboratories,\u201d Mr Rose said. \u201cThey allow us to test our understanding of how matter behaves in strong magnetic fields and under intense gravitational forces.\u201d<\/p>\n

Future research<\/p>\n

The team plans further observations combining radio, optical and X-ray telescopes to better understand how these emissions are generated and whether similar mechanisms can explain the full population of long-period radio transients.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach new discovery is helping us piece together the bigger picture,\u201d Mr Rose said. \u201cWe\u2019re only just beginning to understand this new class of cosmic events.\u201d<\/p>\n

The international team included astronomers from the United States, China, Canada, Spain, Israel and Australia. The team used CSIRO\u2019s Australia Telescope Compact Array and ASKAP radio telescopes in Australia, the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa, the SOAR and Magellan optical telescopes in Chile, and the space-based Swift (UV\/X-ray) and Einstein Probe (X-ray) telescopes.<\/p>\n

DOWNLOAD photos, animations, illustrations and the research paper at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

INTERVIEWS<\/p>\n

Kovi Rose | kovi.rose@sydney.edu.au<\/a><\/p>\n

Professor Tara Murphy | tara.murphy@sydney.edu.au<\/a><\/p>\n

MEDIA ENQUIRIES<\/p>\n

Ivy Shih | ivy.shih@sydney.edu.au<\/a> | +61 439 160 475<\/p>\n

Outside of work hours:\u00a0please call +61 2 8627 0246 (directs to a mobile number) or email\u00a0media.office@sydney.edu.au<\/a>\u202f\u202f\u202f<\/p>\n

RESEARCH<\/p>\n

Rose, K. et al \u2018Periodic radio and X-ray emission from an accreting white dwarf binary\u2019 (Nature Astronomy 2026). DOI: 10.1038\/s41550-026-02882-x<\/p>\n

DECLARATION<\/p>\n

The authors declare no competing interests. Research was funded by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), NASA, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Professor Harry Messel Research Fellowship in Physics Endowment, European Research Council and the China Scholarship Council.<\/p>\n

Method of Research<\/p>\n

Observational study<\/p>\n

Subject of Research<\/p>\n

Not applicable<\/p>\n

Article Title<\/p>\n

Periodic radio and X-ray emission from an accreting white dwarf binary<\/p>\n

Article Publication Date<\/p>\n

1-Jun-2026<\/p>\n

COI Statement<\/p>\n

The authors declare no competing interests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"image:\u00a0 Artists\u2019 impression of the white dwarf binary ASKAP J1745-5051. The smaller, dense white dwarf star is accreting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":709347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[49,48,66],"class_list":["post-709346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=709346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/709346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/709347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=709346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=709346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=709346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}