A Nanosecond-duration Radio Pulse Originating from the Defunct Relay 2 Satellite
We report the detection of a burst of emission over a 695.5–1031.5 MHz bandwidth by the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder. The burst was localized through analysis of near-field time delays to the long-decommissioned Relay 2 satellite and exhibited a dispersion measure of 2.26 × 10 ^−5 pc...
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2025-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ade3d3 |
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| author | C. W. James A. T. Deller T. Dial M. Glowacki S. J. Tingay K. W. Bannister A. Bera N. D. R. Bhat R. D. Ekers V. Gupta A. Jaini J. Morgan J. N. Jahns-Schindler R. M. Shannon M. Sukhov J. Tuthill Z. Wang |
| author_facet | C. W. James A. T. Deller T. Dial M. Glowacki S. J. Tingay K. W. Bannister A. Bera N. D. R. Bhat R. D. Ekers V. Gupta A. Jaini J. Morgan J. N. Jahns-Schindler R. M. Shannon M. Sukhov J. Tuthill Z. Wang |
| author_sort | C. W. James |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We report the detection of a burst of emission over a 695.5–1031.5 MHz bandwidth by the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder. The burst was localized through analysis of near-field time delays to the long-decommissioned Relay 2 satellite and exhibited a dispersion measure of 2.26 × 10 ^−5 pc cm ^−3 —69.7 total electron content units, consistent with expectations for a single pass through the ionosphere. After coherent dedispersion, the burst was determined to be less than 30 ns in width, with an average flux density of at least 300 kJy. We consider an electrostatic discharge (ESD) or plasma discharge following a micrometeoroid impact to be plausible explanations for the burst. ESDs have previously been observed with the Arecibo radio telescope, but on 1000 times longer timescales. Our observation opens new possibilities for the remote sensing of ESD, which poses a serious threat to spacecraft, and reveals a new source of false events for observations of astrophysical transients. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-39c07d36f4e54f85ab5e07d8d2dc40ee |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-8205 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-39c07d36f4e54f85ab5e07d8d2dc40ee2025-08-20T03:29:57ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052025-01-019871L1610.3847/2041-8213/ade3d3A Nanosecond-duration Radio Pulse Originating from the Defunct Relay 2 SatelliteC. W. James0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6437-6176A. T. Deller1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9434-3837T. Dial2https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1205-8805M. Glowacki3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5067-8894S. J. Tingay4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8195-7562K. W. Bannister5https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2149-0363A. Bera6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2864-4110N. D. R. Bhat7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8383-5059R. D. Ekers8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3532-9928V. Gupta9https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9817-4938A. Jaini10https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8987-1544J. Morgan11https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9224-5483J. N. Jahns-Schindler12https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4193-6158R. M. Shannon13https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7285-6348M. Sukhov14https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6311-2859J. Tuthill15https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7551-2073Z. Wang16https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2066-9823International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), Curtin University , Bentley, WA 6102, Australia ; clancy.james@curtin.edu.auCentre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology , John St., Hawthorn, VIC 3122, AustraliaCentre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology , John St., Hawthorn, VIC 3122, AustraliaInternational Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), Curtin University , Bentley, WA 6102, Australia ; clancy.james@curtin.edu.au; Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh , Royal Observatory, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, UK; Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy, Department of Astronomy, University of Cape Town , Cape Town, South AfricaInternational Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), Curtin University , Bentley, WA 6102, Australia ; clancy.james@curtin.edu.auAustralia Telescope National Facility , CSIRO, Space and Astronomy, P.O. Box 76, Epping, NSW 1710, Australia; Sydney Institute for Astronomy, School of Physics, University of Sydney , NSW 2006, AustraliaInternational Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), Curtin University , Bentley, WA 6102, Australia ; clancy.james@curtin.edu.auInternational Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), Curtin University , Bentley, WA 6102, Australia ; clancy.james@curtin.edu.auInternational Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), Curtin University , Bentley, WA 6102, Australia ; clancy.james@curtin.edu.au; Australia Telescope National Facility , CSIRO, Space and Astronomy, P.O. Box 76, Epping, NSW 1710, AustraliaAustralia Telescope National Facility , CSIRO, Space and Astronomy, P.O. Box 76, Epping, NSW 1710, AustraliaCentre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology , Hawthorn, VIC 3122, AustraliaCSIRO Space and Astronomy , P.O. Box 1130, Bentley, WA 6102, AustraliaCentre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology , Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) , Hawthorn, VIC 3122, AustraliaCentre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology , Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav) , Hawthorn, VIC 3122, AustraliaSchool of Science, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology , Melbourne, VIC 3000, AustraliaAustralia Telescope National Facility , CSIRO, Space and Astronomy, P.O. Box 76, Epping, NSW 1710, AustraliaInternational Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR), Curtin University , Bentley, WA 6102, Australia ; clancy.james@curtin.edu.auWe report the detection of a burst of emission over a 695.5–1031.5 MHz bandwidth by the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder. The burst was localized through analysis of near-field time delays to the long-decommissioned Relay 2 satellite and exhibited a dispersion measure of 2.26 × 10 ^−5 pc cm ^−3 —69.7 total electron content units, consistent with expectations for a single pass through the ionosphere. After coherent dedispersion, the burst was determined to be less than 30 ns in width, with an average flux density of at least 300 kJy. We consider an electrostatic discharge (ESD) or plasma discharge following a micrometeoroid impact to be plausible explanations for the burst. ESDs have previously been observed with the Arecibo radio telescope, but on 1000 times longer timescales. Our observation opens new possibilities for the remote sensing of ESD, which poses a serious threat to spacecraft, and reveals a new source of false events for observations of astrophysical transients.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ade3d3Time domain astronomyRadio transient sourcesArtificial satellites |
| spellingShingle | C. W. James A. T. Deller T. Dial M. Glowacki S. J. Tingay K. W. Bannister A. Bera N. D. R. Bhat R. D. Ekers V. Gupta A. Jaini J. Morgan J. N. Jahns-Schindler R. M. Shannon M. Sukhov J. Tuthill Z. Wang A Nanosecond-duration Radio Pulse Originating from the Defunct Relay 2 Satellite The Astrophysical Journal Letters Time domain astronomy Radio transient sources Artificial satellites |
| title | A Nanosecond-duration Radio Pulse Originating from the Defunct Relay 2 Satellite |
| title_full | A Nanosecond-duration Radio Pulse Originating from the Defunct Relay 2 Satellite |
| title_fullStr | A Nanosecond-duration Radio Pulse Originating from the Defunct Relay 2 Satellite |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Nanosecond-duration Radio Pulse Originating from the Defunct Relay 2 Satellite |
| title_short | A Nanosecond-duration Radio Pulse Originating from the Defunct Relay 2 Satellite |
| title_sort | nanosecond duration radio pulse originating from the defunct relay 2 satellite |
| topic | Time domain astronomy Radio transient sources Artificial satellites |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ade3d3 |
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