There are only a few like this in the entire universe: scientists have uncovered the origin of a mysterious signal from the depths of space.

A few years ago, a telescope located in Western Australia detected a strange signal coming from distant stars. Subsequently, scientists managed to find two more similar signals, but until recently, they were unable to determine the source of these signals.

However, they have now proposed a hypothesis that the signals originate from a very rare type of stellar system. The research has been published in the journal The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The signal from the Australian telescope was initially thought to be a pulsar signal. However, in such cases, the signals would last mere fractions of a second, whereas these signals had much longer durations.

The first signal, named GLEAM-X J162759.5−523504.3, was noticed in 2022 after analyzing archival data. It was noted that the signal had been received as far back as 2018 and lasted between 30 to 60 seconds with breaks of up to 20 minutes.

The second signal, GPM J1839-10, began being received by the equipment in 1988; it lasts five minutes with breaks of 22 minutes. Finally, the third signal, GLEAM-X J0704-37, lasts between 30 to 60 seconds with intervals of nearly three hours.

The most recent signal was discovered in a less "populated" part of space, allowing the equipment to accurately pinpoint its location. This system is located about five thousand light-years from our planet in the constellation of Carina and consists of two stars—a red dwarf and the remnant of a dead star known as a white dwarf.

White dwarfs are remnants of stellar cores that possess immense density. Red dwarfs are among the most common stars in the universe; however, due to their low luminosity, none of them can be seen in the sky with the naked eye.

According to the calculations of the research team, the binary star system may consist of a red dwarf with a mass of about 0.32 solar masses and a white dwarf with a mass of 0.8 solar masses. They are on a sufficiently close orbit that the white dwarf begins to pull material from the neighboring star, which causes the unusual radio emissions.

The white dwarf can generate powerful waves at its poles and interact with the red dwarf, causing it to temporarily brighten. This is the reason behind the strange signal.

If this hypothesis is confirmed, scientists will be able to claim that they have discovered a white dwarf pulsar—one of the rarest types of stars in our galaxy. They are so few in number that the phrase "isolated cases" would be an apt description.

The first of these was discovered in the star system AR Scorpii, and below you can see a visual interpretation of what the process there might look like.

As previously reported, a mysterious spot was discovered on Saturn's moon Enceladus, which has stirred the scientific community.