Archive · 24 Sep 2026
uGMRT Detects Extreme Radio Flashes From Rare Neutron Star
Astronomers found very bright bursts of radio energy coming from a special dead star.
The star is called a neutron star because it is the extremely dense leftover core of a star that exploded.
This particular object is a pulsar, which spins quickly and has a powerful magnetic field.
The bursts lasted for only a few millionths of a second.
Scientists used the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope in India to detect them.
The telescope is near Khodad, about 80 kilometers from Pune.
Researchers from India, the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom worked on the discovery.
It is the first time these giant radio pulses have been detected from such a system.
An international team discovered exceptionally bright radio flashes from a rare neutron star.
The flashes lasted only microseconds and were detected using the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope.
The telescope is located at Khodad, about 80 kilometers from Pune, India.
The discovery marks the first detection of giant radio pulses from this type of system.
The telescope is operated by the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
- Who
- An international team of astronomers from India, the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
- What
- The team discovered extraordinarily bright, microsecond-duration giant radio pulses from a rare neutron star.
- Where
- Using the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope at Khodad, about 80 kilometers from Pune, India.
- Object
- PSR J1227−4853, described as a cosmic “shape-shifter” pulsar
- Signal
- Extraordinarily bright radio flashes lasting microseconds
- Telescope
- Upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope
- Location
- Khodad, approximately 80 kilometers from Pune
- Discovery significance
- First detection of giant radio pulses from such a system
- Operator
- National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, a unit of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
- Institutional affiliation
- The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research is an aided institute under the Department of Atomic Energy