A University of Sydney news release said the object was discovered by a team of scientists from across the world, using a telescope in Western Austrialia belonging to the Australian government’s scientific research agency.

The unusual signals coming from the direction of the Milky Way’s center — “radio waves that fit no currently understood pattern of variable radio source” — could suggest a new class of stellar object, the University’s news release said.

Over a nine-month period in 2020, astronomers detected six radio signals from the source, trying to find the object in visual light, but were unsuccessful, the news release said.

However, when using the more sensitive MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa, Murphy said that, because the signal was intermittent, scientists were able to observe it for 15 minutes every few weeks.

This further discovery did not reveal much more about the secrets of this transient radio source, and scientists continue to search for answers, according to the University of Sydney news release.