An Australian team of astronomers has spotted an object orbiting 4,000 light-years away, sending repeated sonic signals to Earth.
The object sends repeating radio signals back to Earth every 18 minutes, which initially worried scientists that they might have picked up a message from a distant alien civilization.
Observations show that the body releases a giant burst of energy 3 times an hour.
According to the British newspaper “Daily Mail”, its discovery for the first time surprised astrophysicist Natasha Hurley, who said: “We thought at first that it was evidence of the existence of other life outside Earth.”
“This was completely unexpected,” she added. “It was frightening for an astronomer because to date there is nothing known in the sky that does that.”
Scientists now believe that it could be a neutron star with a super strong magnetic field, and this is what is known as a “magnetar”.
The magnetar spins so fast on its axis that it completes a cycle between 1 and 10 seconds.
However, these stars are still very much a mystery, and astronomers know very little about their properties, how they form, or even what they are.