Ever heard of GLEAM-X?

 

GLEAM-X is not a new toothpaste.  GLEAM-X is something very unusual;  as the astronomers describe it, "an ultra-slow magnetar".   Right.

Here's the paper about it (really scientific stuff here):

A radio transient with unusually slow periodic emission

Space.com provides a more digestible description:

Astronomers detect powerful cosmic object unlike anything they've seen before

"An analysis of the object showed that it was incredibly bright but smaller than Earth's sun. GLEAM's radio emissions were also highly-polarized (that is, their light waves only vibrate on a single plane), suggesting they were generated by an extremely powerful magnetic field, according to the study authors.

These characteristics match a type of theoretical object known as an "ultra-long period magnetar," which is essentially a highly magnetized neutron star that rotates incredibly slowly. While predicted to exist, this rare class of object has never been observed in space before, the researchers said.

"Nobody expected to directly detect one like this because we didn't expect them to be so bright," Hurley-Walker said. "Somehow it's converting magnetic energy to radio waves much more effectively than anything we've seen before."

So, a really slow magnetar.  Remember the moment you found out it might have been observed.

(OK, maybe it's not that exciting -- but it is pretty cool.)