Latest news with #Relay2
Yahoo
a day ago
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA satellite emits 'spark' decades after going dormant: Astronomers think they know why
A NASA satellite that had been dead for nearly six decades issued a surprising sign of life. In June 2024, a team of astronomers were perplexed when a radio telescope in Australia scanning the sky over the southern hemisphere came across unusual radio waves. The burst of radiation was very bright, exceedingly quick – and much closer to Earth than the scientists would have thought. After studying the source of the strange cosmic phenomena, the researchers were even more mystified when it appeared to be originating from the same location as a NASA spacecraft that went offline about 58 years ago, according to a press release about the discovery released June 25, 2025. Don't be fooled, though: The defunct spacecraft that operated for about three years in the 1960s isn't kicking back on to resume operations anytime soon. So, what's going on? Here's what to know about the strange signal, and how astronomers tracked it to a defunct NASA satellite. Astronomers tracked the source of the radio waves to a location that matches that of NASA's defunct Relay 2 spacecraft, a communications satellite that launched into orbit in 1964 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The spacecraft operated until June 1967 after both of its onboard transponders failed. So, has the long-dead satellite has suddenly sprung back to life after nearly six decades? Astronomers say that's unlikely. Rather, the waves more likely came from a "spark" of built up electricity, which emitted a pulse as it jumped from one part of the spacecraft to another while passing through charged environment above Earth's atmosphere, according to the researchers. The team of astronomers discovered the strange signal while hunting for bright, powerful flashes of electromagnetic radiation in the distant universe known as fast radio bursts. Most surprising to the researchers, all of whom are from the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, was that the signal spotted June 13, 2024, didn't originate from a far-flung galaxy. Instead, it originated in our own cosmic neighborhood in the Milky Way. While incredibly bright, the event only lasted less than 30 nanoseconds. The astronomers detected it using Australia's national science agency's (CSIRO) ASKAP radio telescope. Clancy James, an astrophysicist at Curtin University in Australia's Perth campus, then led a team that studied the extremely bright source of radio waves to determine its source. While the satellite signal is one possible explanation, the researchers have also theorized that an impact with a tiny particle of space debris, known as a "micrometeoroid," could have caused the anomaly. Such impacts can create short-lived clouds of hot, charged gas that produce bursts of radio waves. The discovery marks the first time that a spark of built-up electricity has been observed to be both so bright and so short in duration. Now that the detection has been made, the finding not only demonstrates how astronomers can help identify the origin of these kinds of signals in the future, but could even help humanity better understand how electrostatic discharges can pose a danger to satellites in Earth's orbit. "Detections like this show how the tools developed to study the distant Universe can help scientists understand the increasingly crowded and critically important space environment close to Earth," the researcher said in a statement. The research has been accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters. A pre-print version of the paper is available on arXiv. Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dead NASA satellite from Florida emits 'spark' 6 decades later: Why?
Time of India
3 days ago
- Science
- Time of India
Who sent mysterious radio burst in 2024? Study reveals the presence of a ‘zombie' NASA Satellite. Here's truth
In June 2024, astronomers detected a powerful burst of radio waves from within the Milky Way. After investigation, scientists now believe the signal came from a deactivated or zombie NASA satellite launched in the 1960s. This discovery could help researchers better understand unusual signals in space and the behavior of old satellites. Signal Detected from Within Our Galaxy A burst of radio waves was picked up by astronomers in June 2024. It was detected by the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) in Western Australia. ASKAP has 36 identical dish antennas. This array searches for short but strong radio signals in space. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0.00% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Usually, radio bursts come from distant galaxies. These signals often release energy equal to what the sun produces in three days. But this signal came from much closer. It started inside the Milky Way galaxy, very near to Earth. ASKAP could not focus on it clearly, similar to a phone camera failing to focus on a nearby object. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 9 years ago - Most beautiful twins. Their appearance today will shock you Novelodge Undo Also Read: Roofman: Is Channing Tatum starrer crime drama based on a true story? Here's trailer, release date, plot and cast NASA Satellite Named as Likely Source A team of scientists investigated the source. They ruled out new space objects. The only possible match was an old NASA satellite called Relay 2. This satellite was launched in 1964. It stopped working in 1967 after its two transmitters failed, a New Scientist report said citing a new preprint study. Live Events Despite being inactive for many years, Relay 2 may have created the radio pulse detected in 2024. The researchers shared their findings in a study on arXiv on June 13. The study is not yet peer-reviewed. Unusual Nature of the Signal The signal lasted only 30 nanoseconds. It was very strong but very brief. The pattern of the pulse did not match any known function of Relay 2. This ruled out the chance that it was a planned transmission. Researchers looked into other possible causes. They believe it may have happened because of a micrometeorite impact or an electrostatic discharge. Both events can create powerful radio signals in space. Also Read: Marge Simpson Death Rumours: Does Marge Simpson die in The Simpsons Season 36 finale? Here's the truth Possible Reason Micrometeorites are tiny space rocks. When they hit a spacecraft, they can cause changes in the spacecraft's surface. These changes may increase electrical activity and release radio waves. Scientists have noted that micrometeorite impacts can directly create such signals. According to the researchers, if a micrometeorite hit Relay 2, it might have created plasma. This would allow electric charges to build up and discharge quickly. That could explain the strong radio pulse. Electrostatic Discharge More Likely Scientists say that electrostatic discharge (ESD) is a more likely cause. ESD happens when electric charges between two surfaces suddenly flow. Spacecraft surfaces can carry different charges due to space conditions. Relay 2 was built many years ago. Its materials might hold electric charges more easily than modern satellites. When the charge becomes too strong, it can discharge and produce radio waves. According to the study, ESD has long been known to create radio pulses. The research team believes Relay 2's old design may have made it more likely to generate a strong pulse in space. FAQs What is electrostatic discharge and how can it affect satellites? Electrostatic discharge is the sudden flow of electricity between charged surfaces. In satellites, it can create short radio bursts or damage electronic parts. Why is this radio signal from Relay 2 important to scientists? The signal helps scientists understand how old satellites might still produce activity. It may also offer a way to detect discharges from space debris or inactive satellites.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Mysterious radio burst came from dead 1960s satellite
(NewsNation) — A dead NASA satellite is the source of a brief but extremely powerful radio signal initially thought to have come from deep space. Relay 2 was one of a pair of experimental communications satellites launched in 1962 and 1964. Relay 2 operated for just a year and a half, and transponders onboard stopped responding to radio signals in 1967 when the satellite went silent. The signal was detected last June, lasting less than 30 nanoseconds. Radio signals from space aren't uncommon, with pulsars, black holes, massive galaxies, stars and other cosmic phenomena putting out signals that get picked up by satellites. States may see the northern lights Wednesday The Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder radio telescope traced this specific signal back to its origin and found it was much closer to home. But Relay 2, still in Earth's orbit, didn't come back to life to send the signal, researchers say. Instead, it's likely that electrostatic discharge or plasma discharge after a micrometeoroid impact could have caused the radio burst. Relay 2 is one of many space objects that remain in Earth's orbit despite being nonfunctional. Some satellites are deorbited after about 25 years to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. ISS leak delays mission, raises concerns at NASA But that's only allowed when operators can show that there is less than a 1 in 10,000 chance of injury or property damage after deorbiting. If that's not possible, a controlled deorbit may direct the satellite into a remote ocean area. But satellites that don't have enough fuel for reentry are left to orbit indefinitely, instruments and subsystems shut down. That leaves the possibility of other signals from zombie satellites, making it harder to determine what signals are coming from the cosmos and which are coming from human-made objects lingering in orbit. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronomers thought a mysterious radio burst came from deep space. It was actually a dead NASA satellite
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A powerful and mysterious blast of radio waves that astronomers believed was a fast radio burst (FRB) from far beyond the limits of the Milky Way has turned out to be an emission from a long-dead NASA satellite called Relay 2. The now-discounted FRB or "pseudo-FRB" was initially detected by the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) in June 2024 as this radio telescope scanned the sky over the southern hemisphere. It was remarkable because this burst of radio waves lasted less than 30 nanoseconds, much shorter than most FRBs, and yet it was strong enough to drown out all other signals from the sky. "This was a chance discovery made when looking for FRBs, which originate in distant galaxies," team member and Swinburne University of Technology astrophysicist Adam Deller told "Funnily enough, despite them being known for almost 20 years, we still don't actually know what generates FRBs, but most of the plausible theories involve a 'magnetar', which is a highly magnetized neutron star." The Relay 2 satellite was launched in 1964 as part of NASA's Relay program. Sitting in a medium Earth orbit, the spacecraft operated until 1965, but by 1967, its systems had completely failed. "It's part of space history, being one of the first ever communications satellites. There won't be many older satellites still up there," team member Clancy W. James from Curtin University's Institute of Radio Astronomy told "But we're also sure that this was not a transmission by the satellite. None of its systems would have been capable of producing this nanosecond signal."James explained that at the time of the event, Relay 2 was just around 2,800 miles (4,500 kilometers) from Earth. While this might seem like a vast distance, consider that FRBs are thought to originate from cosmic sources as distant as 9.1 billion light-years away. In fact, the closest FRB source, and the only one ever seen within our galaxy, is still located an estimated 30,000 light-years away. "So, although it appeared extremely bright to our telescope, this was just because it was much closer than the astronomical signals we were looking for," James continued. "It was difficult to get an image of it - it came out all blurry. This meant that it was close to the telescope. So, no astronomical object. Darn." Since the discovery of the first FRB in 2007, astronomers have discovered over 1,000 FRBs, yet they remain one of the most fascinating and curious signals in the cosmos. So, finding out an exceptional example of such an FRB is actually a "pseudo-FRB" caused by a defunct piece of NASA equipment may initially be a little disappointing. Surprisingly, team member and University of Edinburgh astronomer Marcin Glowacki wasn't disappointed at all that this signal turned out to be a signal from a man-made satellite. "It was like an interesting puzzle for us to be able to localize this result from such a relatively close object to what we are used to! It certainly took some time and effort, as we had to adjust how we measured the signal with ASKAP to account for it being so close. It's like how phone cameras can struggle to focus on something very close to them," Glowacki told "While we are mostly interested in astrophysical systems, this discovery is important for monitoring satellites in the future with ASKAP and other radio telescopes." Glowacki further explained how a man-made object so close to Earth could have been mistaken for a cosmic blast of radio waves in the first place."It was a very bright radio signal that we saw once. Most FRBs have been found only once thus far, and are also exceedingly bright compared to other radio transients, such as from pulsars," he told "However, this is on a shorter timescale than any known FRB. Signals from FRBs typically last from microseconds to several millisecond-timescales, rather than only a few 10s of nanoseconds. "It was indeed good luck that ASKAP happened to be looking at the same part of the sky that the Relay 2 satellite was in when it gave off that signal - that allowed us to investigate further and determine the origin of the signal." Thus, any initial disappointment can be offset a little by the fact that this observation was an amazing chance discovery. Additionally, this opens up an entirely new mystery; the team still can't quite explain how Relay 2 managed to fire off a signal that could be mistaken for an FRB. As mentioned above, the team is certain that this "pseudo-FRB" signal wasn't an intentional emission, as not only has Relay 2 been inoperative for 58 years, but even when it was working, its transmission signal wasn't capable of generating such short-lived radio pulses. "What caused this signal from Relay 2? That's a good question. We don't know!" Glowacki explained. "One theory is electrostatic discharge (ESD) – a build-up of electricity that results in a spark-like flash. Another is that a micrometeorite had struck the satellite and produced a cloud of charged plasma, right as ASKAP was observing the part of the sky it was in. " James elaborated that ESD is a spark that is almost exactly the same as the effect generated when you rub your feet on carpet and shock your friend (or enemy). "Spacecraft get charged with electricity when they pass through ionized gas or 'plasma' above the atmosphere, and when enough charge builds up, they generate a spark," James continued. "New spacecraft are built with materials to reduce the build-up of charge, but when Relay 2 was launched, this wasn't well-understood. "Hence, perhaps it produced such a big spark because it was old." The problem with this theory is that all expectations for how sparks should behave suggest they should last tens of microseconds or longer. That's over a thousand times longer than this signal lasted. Additionally, the spacecraft charging described by James occurs mostly during active periods of the sun, and thus so too does the resulting sparking. That activity also impacts the Earth's magnetic bubble, the magnetosphere, and at the time of this "pseudo-FRB," the magnetosphere was extremely quiet. As for micrometeorite impacts as the culprit, James explained that there are predictions that these tiny flecks of space dust, which weigh no more than a thousandth to a billionth of a gram, can produce flashes of radio waves when they impact a satellite. However, to do this, James said, micrometeorites need to be travelling at about 44,000 miles per hour (around 70,000 km per hour). "Based on one estimate, we think a 22 microgram micrometeorite might have been able to produce a flash such as the one we saw," James said. Again, the issue with this explanation is that predictions suggest the signal should have lasted microseconds, not milliseconds. Additionally, 22 micro-gram micrometeoroids are not common. James and colleagues estimated only about a 1% chance that they would have been pointing ASKAP toward a satellite at the same time as one hit it. "We slightly favor the ESD scenario, because the now-collapsed Arecibo telescope once saw similar signals from GPS satellites, albeit lasting 1000 times longer than ours," James added. "But we don't know." If you are an FRB-nerd like we are at there may be a concern clawing at the back of your mind right now. The team was quick to put our minds at rest that other FRBs may be revealed as "pseudo-FRBs." "The short answer is that's not at all a possibility," James said. "Most telescopes detecting FRBs now also measure exactly where they come from, and can pinpoint their host galaxy, which a satellite wouldn't have. These instruments are very good at identifying the direction of such a signal and getting rid of it. "If a satellite did miraculously produce an FRB imposter, somebody in charge of the satellite programmed it to produce an artificially dispersed signal just to troll us! In that case, we could always pinpoint the direction of origin and check if there was a satellite there or not." The biggest clue that an FRB is an artificial signal is its dispersion measure, which Glowacki explains is the effect of a time delay at lower frequencies of radio signals coming from FRBs and pulsars. It is due to ionized electrons slowing the signal at lower frequencies as FRBS travel through space, encountering plasma. This gives astronomers a good indication of how far signals have travelled. "For FRBs, there is such a large delay, due to the amount of ionized electrons between us and what creates the signal, that the only possible explanation is that they nearly always originate from another galaxy, sometimes billions of light years away," Glowacki said. "The signal we had detected barely had any measurable time delay. It had to have come from very close by, relatively speaking."Deller added that it is certainly possible that there are many more such bursts happening from this or other satellites. However, he said that a lack of dispersion is a dead giveaway that a signal came from much closer to Earth than an FRB so cases of mistaken identity aren't likely. This doesn't mean that this research hasn't highlighted a possible problem that needs to be considered. "We do need to be wary of confusing such signals with potential sources that are within or very close to our solar system," Glowacki said. "For example, there may be other satellite signals to be detected that may be harder to differentiate." Related Stories: — Scientists find universe's missing matter while watching fast radio bursts shine through 'cosmic fog' — Mysterious fast radio burst traced back to massive 'cosmic graveyard' of ancient stars — Mysterious fast radio bursts could be caused by asteroids slamming into dead stars For James, the big question going forward is how this research could help use radio telescopes to monitor satellites. These instruments could be particularly useful for detecting ESD."ESD is a huge problem for satellites, and can cause all kinds of damage," James said. "The problem is that ESD is very difficult to monitor. Mostly, it is only ever a 'suspected' cause, since it's extremely difficult to just go up to check on a satellite and work out what went wrong. So if that can be monitored from the ground relatively easily, that's great!" Deller agrees, adding there is a lot more to learn about the phenomenon discovered by the team. "Everyone is still surprised that it was possible to generate such a short-duration pulse," Deller concluded. "I'm hoping that we or some other group detect some more in the coming years and are able to come up with a model for how it happens. "It would be great if that turned out to be useful in terms of helping to avoid damage to satellites." The team's research is published on the paper repository site arXiv.
Gizmodo
4 days ago
- Science
- Gizmodo
NASA Satellite That's Been Dead for 57 Years Sends Mysterious Signal to Earth
A little over a year ago, scientists in Australia picked up a brief burst of electromagnetic radiation. The pulse was so strong that it eclipsed all other signals coming from the sky, but its origins were unknown. After digging through the data, the team discovered that the source wasn't a distant celestial object but rather a zombie satellite left to orbit Earth with no purpose. NASA's Relay-2 launched on January 21, 1964, two years after its predecessor, Relay-1, was sent to orbit. The pair were experimental communications satellites that carried onboard experiments to map the trapped radiation belt, otherwise known as the Van Allen radiation belts. Relay-2 continued to operate until June 9, 1967, when its two transponders failed, and it wasn't heard from again until it let out a short-lived signal nearly 60 years later. On June 13, 2024, astronomers at the Australian Square Kilometer Array Pathfinder picked up a mysterious fast radio burst (FRB) that lasted for less than 30 nanoseconds. 'We got all excited, thinking maybe we'd discovered a new pulsar or some other object,' Clancy James, a researcher at Curtin University, told New Scientist. 'This was an incredibly powerful radio pulse that vastly outshone everything else in the sky for a very short amount of time.' The scientists originally assumed that the signal came from a distant object in the cosmos, but further analysis revealed that the long-dead Relay-2 was in fact the culprit behind the mysterious pulse, according to a paper available on the preprint website arXiv. Fast radio bursts are brief, powerful pulses of radio waves that usually come from deep space and last for only a few milliseconds. Despite being short-lived, FRBs can release as much energy in that brief window of time to outshine an entire galaxy, according to NASA. The FRB detected in June 2024 was particularly strong—and it coincided with the NASA satellite flying directly overhead at the time, according to the paper. It was also unusually clear and well-defined. As to why Relay-2 suddenly emitted this signal, that's a mystery. The scientists behind the detection believe that the satellite may have built up electricity over the years and then suddenly discharged it in a single powerful burst. Another possibility is that Relay-2 was struck by a micrometeorite or another object in orbit, resulting in the release of a small cloud of plasma, the researchers speculate. As an increasing number of defunct satellites zip around in space, producing all kinds of weird bleeps and bloops, it'll become harder for scientists to distinguish whether it's the cosmos talking—or just some piece of malfunctioning hardware.
