We have no idea what it is.
Using the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder , an extremely sensitive radio radio telescope, a team of astronomers have discovered a mysterious radio signal emanating not far from the center of our own Milky Way galaxy,"We have presented the discovery and characterization of ASKAP J173608.
Even more perplexing, the elusive signal also did not show up in X-ray or near-infrared observations, suggesting that its source is unlikely to be a flaring star or a close binary system. It's also unlikely to be a pulsar, a dying star that lights up the galaxy like a lighthouse with highly magnetized emissions, scientists say.
In other words, the researchers are scratching their heads. None of their explanations can fully explain it, leading to them to suggest "that ASKAP J173608.2-321635 may represent part of a new class of objects being discovered through radio imaging surveys" in their paper. But there may be other signals like it, the researchers argue. With more samples, we could finally find a plausible explanation for the radio source.