- Mysterious object unlike anything ever seen in space discovered by astronomers
- ‘Spooky’ item was observed releasing a giant burst of energy three times an hour
- For one minute in every 20 the discovery is one of brightest objects in night sky
- Object may be a neutron star or a white dwarf with ultra-powerful magnetic field
A mysterious object that is just 4,000 light years away from Earth is unlike anything ever seen before in space, astronomers have said.
They think it could be a neutron star or a white dwarf – collapsed cores of stars – with an ultra-powerful magnetic field, also known as a magnetar.
As it spins through the cosmos, the ‘spooky’ object sends out a beam of radiation, and for one minute in every 20 it is one of the brightest objects in the night sky.
Observations show it releasing a giant burst of energy three times an hour.