In 2022, astronomers spotted a bizarre radio signal from deep space that had been travelling for 200 million years to reach Earth. This signal, a Fast Radio Burst (FRB), is a brief but incredibly energetic burst of radio waves that can sometimes outshine entire galaxies. But until now, scientists weren’t entirely sure where these bursts came from.
Enter the latest study, which revealed the source of one such burst (FRB 20221022A) — a neutron star with an ultra-dense magnetic field. The research, published in Nature, is the first to show that these cosmic bursts can come from the magnetospheres of neutron stars (think of it as the “no-go zone” right around the star).
The star’s magnetic field is so extreme that previous theories doubted it could even let light escape, but these researchers showed that the energy in these fields can twist and reconfigure, producing the radio waves we can detect from here on Earth.
Even more impressive, this specific FRB came from just 10,000 km from the surface of the neutron star. To put that in perspective, that’s less than the distance between New York and Singapore — but from 200 million light-years away! Talk about cosmic precision.
This discovery is huge because it gives scientists the clearest evidence yet that these high-energy bursts can come from right next to a neutron star’s surface. Who knew the universe had such a knack for keeping secrets?
So, next time you hear a radio signal, just remember: it might be something from a neutron star 200 million years old, travelling light-years just to make you go “Whoa!”
Source Info: https://www.independent.co.uk/space/mysterious-radio-signal-space-origin-b2677904.html