Upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope discovers extreme radio flashes from rare neutron star

The uGMRT is one of the world’s most sensitive radio telescopes, playing a pivotal role in key discoveries.

3 min readSep 24, 2026 08:37 PM IST

Artist’s impression of PSR J1227−4853, a cosmic “shape-shifter” pulsar. Using the uGMRT, astronomers have discovered giant radio pulses from such a system for the first time. (Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center)

Using the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (uGMRT) at Khodad, 80 km from Pune, an international team of astronomers from India, the US, Germany and the UK discovered extraordinarily bright, microsecond-duration radio flashes from a rare type of neutron star.

The uGMRT (Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope) is a world-class, low-frequency radio telescope run by the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), a unit of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), an aided institute under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).

The uGMRT is one of the world’s most sensitive radio telescopes, playing a pivotal role in key discoveries.

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Neutron stars are extremely dense, leftover cores of giant stars that have exploded. A pulsar is a rapidly spinning, highly magnetised neutron star that emits radio waves from regions around both of its magnetic poles.

Saptarshi Sarkar, lead author of the study and a PhD student at NCRA-TIFR, and the team observed PSR J1227-4853 — which is an exceptionally rare kind of neutron star. Sarkar, when contacted, told The Indian Express that it is one of only three known transitional millisecond pulsars among more than 3,000 known ones.

The team explained that just as a lighthouse beam sweeps by at regular intervals, the pulsar’s radio light is detected periodically, revealing its intrinsic rotation rate. Hence catching a pulsar in this transitional act gives astronomers a rare chance to study how neutron stars evolve and according to Sarkar that is exactly what this observation offered.

PSR J1227-4853 spins an astonishing 592 times a second (that’s almost twice as fast as a regular kitchen blender!). The team patiently monitored the pulsar for about 174 hours over several years. From this enormous amount of data, 235 individual giant radio pulses were found.

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“What struck me most was just how extreme these pulses are, both in terms of their brightness and their short duration. Some flashes were nearly 1,000 times brighter than the pulsar’s normal emission, while the shortest lasted just 1.28 microseconds, about 100,000 times shorter than an eye blink! It is remarkable to see such intense and brief bursts of radio emission from a neutron star,” he added.

He further pointed out that there are around 20 pulsars including this one that are known to produce giant pulses. “So this is truly a case of the rarest of the rare,” he said.

Published in The Astrophysical Journal, the study establishes PSR J1227−4853 as a new laboratory for exploring how rapidly rotating neutron stars generate some of the brightest and shortest radio flashes known, and may help astronomers understand the diverse mechanisms behind the universe’s most extreme radio bursts.

Jayanta Roy, a co-author and an Associate Professor at the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), attributed the discovery to the uGMRT’s high sensitivity, microsecond time resolution, and its ability to run long-term monitoring campaigns.

Anuradha Mascarenhas

Anuradha Mascarenhas is a Senior Editor at The Indian Express, based in Pune. With a career spanning three decades, she is one of the most respected voices in Indian journalism regarding healthcare, science and environment and research developments. She also takes a keen interest in covering women's issues . Professional Background Education: A gold medalist in Communication and Journalism from Savitribai Phule Pune University and a Master’s degree in Literature. Author: She authored the biography At The Wheel Of Research, which chronicles the life and work of Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the former Chief Scientist at the WHO. Key Focus: She combines scientific accuracy with storytelling, translating complex medical research into compelling public and human-interest narratives. Awards and Recognition Anuradha has won several awards including the Press Council of India's national award for excellence in journalism under the gender based reporting category in 2019 and the Laadli Media award (gender sensitivity -2024). A recipient of the Lokmat journalism award (gender category-2022), she was also shortlisted for the RedInk awards for excellence in journalism-2021. Her debut book At The Wheel Of Research, an exclusive biography of Dr Soumya Swaminathan the inaugural chief scientist of World Health Organisation was also nominated in the Popular Choice Category of JK Paper AUTHER awards. She has also secured competitive fellowships including the Laadli Media Fellowship (2022), the Survivors Against TB – New Research in TB Media Fellowship (2023) and is part of the prestigious 2025 India Cohort of the WomenLift Health Leadership Journey.” Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) 1. Cancer & Specialized Medical Care "Tata Memorial finds way to kill drug-resistant cancer cells" (Nov 26, 2025): Reporting on a breakthrough for triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease. Discipline, diet and purpose; How a 97-year-old professor defies ageing'' (Nov 15, 2025) Report about Prof Gururaj Mutalik, the first Head of Department at Pune's B J Government Medical College who at 97 credits his longevity to healthy habits and a strong sense of purpose. 2. Environmental Health (The "Breathless Pune" Series) Long-term exposure even to 'moderate' air leads to chronic heart, lung, kidney issues" (Nov 26, 2025): Part of an investigative series highlighting that even "safe" pollution levels are damaging to vital organs. "For every 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 level, there was 6-8% jump in medicine sales" (Nov 23, 2025): Using commercial data to prove the direct link between air quality and respiratory illnesses in Pune. 3. Lifestyle & Wellness News "They didn't let cancer, diabetes and heart disease stop them from travelling" (Dec 22, 2025): A collaborative piece featuring survivors who share practical tips for traveling with chronic conditions. At 17, his BP shot up to 200/120 mmHG; Lancet study flags why child and teen hypertension doubled between 2000 and 2020'' (Nov 12,2025)--A report that focusses on 17-year-old-boy's hypertensive crisis and reflects the rising global trend of high blood pressure among children and adolescents. 4. Scientific Recognition & Infrastructure For promoting sci-comm, gender diversity: IUCAA woman prof highlighted in Nature" (Nov 25, 2025): Covering the global recognition of Indian women scientists in gender studies and physics. Pune researchers find a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way from early universe'' (December 3, 2025)- A report on how Indian researchers discovered a massive galaxy that existed when the universe was just 1.5 billion years old , one of the earliest to have been observed so far. Signature Beat: Health, Science & Women in Leadership Anuradha is known for her COVID-19 reportage, where she was one of the first journalists to provide detailed insights into the Covishield and Covaxin trials. She has a dedicated interest in gender diversity in health and science, often profiling women researchers who are breaking the "leaky pipeline" in STEM fields. Her writing style is scrupulous, often featuring interviews with top-tier scientists and health experts from various institutions. ... Read More

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