GLEAM-X J162759.5−523504.3 is a transient astronomical radio source, found in 2020, in archival data recorded in 2018 by the GLEAM survey of the Murchison Widefield Array. The source was active in radio for about 1 minute every 18 minutes, from January to March 2018, but has not been recorded since.
Nature of source It seems somewhat like a Galactic Center radio transient (GCRT) except it is thought to be only about 4,000 light-years (1,200 pc) distant. The radio emissions were polarised (as if affected by a magnetic field) so it may be a predicted astrophysical object called an "ultra-long period magnetar".
See also GPM J1839−10 GCRT J1745−3009 PSR J0901–4046 Rotating radio transient Long Period Radio Transients
Further reading N. Hurley-Walker; X. Zhang; A. Bahramian; S. J. McSweeney; T. N. O’Doherty; P. J. Hancock; J. S. Morgan; G. E. Anderson; G. H. Heald; T. J. Galvin (27 January 2022). "A radio transient with unusually slow periodic emission". Nature. 601 (601) (published 26 January 2022): 526–530. arXiv:2503.08033. Bibcode:2022Natur.601..526H. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04272-x. PMID 35082416. S2CID 246296294. Not open access. P. Beniamini; Z. Wadiasingh; B. D. Metzger (2020). "Periodicity in recurrent fast radio bursts and the origin of ultralong period magnetars". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 496 (3) (published 23 June 2020): 3390–3401. arXiv:2003.12509. doi:10.1093/mnras/staa1783. P. Beniamini; Z. Wadiasingh; J. Hare; K. M. Rajwade; G. Younes; A. J. van der Horst (2023). "Evidence for an abundant old population of Galactic ultra-long period magnetars and implications for fast radio bursts". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 520 (2) (published 20 January 2023): 1872–1894. arXiv:2210.09323. doi:10.1093/mnras/stad208. Ronchi, Michele; Rea, Nanda; Graber, Vanessa; Hurley-Walker, Natasha (27 January 2022). "Long-period Pulsars as Evidence of Supernova Fallback Accretion". The Astrophysical Journal. 934 (2): 184. arXiv:2201.11704. Bibcode:2022ApJ...934..184R. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ac7cec. S2CID 250868925. ICRAR (27 January 2022). "Mysterious Object Unlike Anything Astronomers Have Seen Before". International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research.
References
External links Curtin, Alice (16 February 2022). "You'll be a limbo star. How (s)low can you go?". Astrobites.