The researchers discovered this mass of energy when mapping radio waves in space. The team believes this could be a neutron star or even a white dwarf with a very strong magnetic field surrounding it.

The astrophysicist leading the discovery, Dr Natasha Hurley-Walker from Curtin University of the International Center for Radio Astronomy Research said the object was “absolutely surprising”. “This object appeared and disappeared many times during our observations,” Hurley-Walker said

.The researchers think that the mysterious rotating mass emits beams of radiation about every 20 to 30 minutes.

This was one of the brightest radio sources they had ever seen in the sky. The researchers suggest that this rotating mass is repetitive. Basically, it releases short bursts of energy before darkening again.

What’s more intriguing, however, is that this rotating mass is only 4,000 light-years away. “It’s on the edge of our galaxy,” says Hurley-Walker.In fact, not much is known about this rotating block yet.

However, Dr Hurley-Walker says it is in line with predictions of an astrophysics object they call an “extremely long-period magnetic field”. “It’s a type of slow-rotating neutron star that has been predicted to exist in theory,” she explains. “It’s very possible that this finding will support the hypothesis we’ve built.”