<p>The Wikipedia page on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_82" rel="noreferrer">"Cigar Galaxy" (M82)</a> has the following summary about an "unknown object": </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>In April 2010, radio astronomers working at the Jodrell Bank
  Observatory of the University of Manchester in the UK reported an
  object in M82 that had started sending out radio waves, and whose
  emission did not look like anything seen anywhere in the universe
  before.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>A subsequent article in <em>New Scientist</em> dated <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18775-mysterious-radio-waves-emitted-from-nearby-galaxy/" rel="noreferrer">13 December 2010</a> offers the following update:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The object is still a puzzle, says co-discoverer Tom Muxlow. “It was
  still there the last time we looked, so its lifetime is now well over
  a year,” he says. “We are continuing to monitor this object.”</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I can find a number of other references to this unknown object, but nothing more recent than 2010. The articles suggest it could perhaps be a new type of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microquasar" rel="noreferrer">microquasar</a>, since it shares some similarities; however, it doesn't have the high X-ray output that known microquasars exhibit.</p>

<p>Has the mystery been solved, or is this still an area of active research? </p>

<galaxy><radio-astronomy><quasars>
Is there a recent update on the mysterious M82 radio source reported in 2010?
Chappo Hasn't Forgotten
# Is there a recent update on the mysterious M82 radio source reported in 2010?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-06-09)

The Wikipedia page on the ["Cigar Galaxy" (M82)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_82) has the following summary about an "unknown object":

> In April 2010, radio astronomers working at the Jodrell Bank
> Observatory of the University of Manchester in the UK reported an
> object in M82 that had started sending out radio waves, and whose
> emission did not look like anything seen anywhere in the universe
> before.

A subsequent article in *New Scientist* dated [13 December 2010](https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18775-mysterious-radio-waves-emitted-from-nearby-galaxy/) offers the following update:

> The object is still a puzzle, says co-discoverer Tom Muxlow. “It was
> still there the last time we looked, so its lifetime is now well over
> a year,” he says. “We are continuing to monitor this object.”

I can find a number of other references to this unknown object, but nothing more recent than 2010. The articles suggest it could perhaps be a new type of [microquasar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microquasar), since it shares some similarities; however, it doesn't have the high X-ray output that known microquasars exhibit.

Has the mystery been solved, or is this still an area of active research?

**Tags:** galaxy, radio-astronomy, quasars

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## 0 answers

