ASKAP J1745−5051's 1.368-Hour Orbit Explains Repeating Radio Bursts
Updated
Updated · The Economic Times · Aug 22
ASKAP J1745−5051's 1.368-Hour Orbit Explains Repeating Radio Bursts
2 articles · Updated · The Economic Times · Aug 22
Summary
Optical spectra pinned ASKAP J1745−5051's orbital period at 1.368 ± 0.053 hours, closely matching its 1.34497-hour radio pulse and tying the repeating bursts to the binary's motion.
X-ray data added a third clock at 1.32 ± 0.13 hours, reinforcing that the Milky Way system is an accreting white-dwarf binary rather than an isolated slow-spinning neutron star.
Radio bursts reached nearly 100% polarisation and brightness temperatures above 1 trillion kelvin, pointing to coherent emission—likely electron cyclotron maser radiation shaped by the system's magnetic geometry.
The source was isolated from about 3 million ASKAP survey objects and now serves as a 'Rosetta Stone' for long-period radio transients, though its companion, distance and white dwarf spin remain uncertain.