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A team of scientists has confirmed that mysterious bursts of energy known as fast radio bursts (Fast Radio Bursts, FRBs) can occur as a result of collisions between asteroids and ultra-dense neutron stars. This phenomenon releases an enormous amount of energy — enough to provide electricity to humanity for 100 million years.
FRBs are short pulses of radio waves, the duration of which varies from a millisecond to several seconds. During this time, the flare can emit as much energy as the Sun produces in several days. The first FRB was recorded in 2007, but their research only progressed significantly with the arrival of the Canadian radio telescope CHIME in 2017, which began recording these events regularly. Research indicates that collisions of asteroids or comets with neutron stars can cause bursts of radio waves, similar to FRBs.
Background: Neutron stars are the super-dense remnants of massive stars that have the strongest magnetic and gravitational fields in the universe.
According to astrophysicist Matthew Hopkins, during such a collision, colossal energy is released. For example, even an ordinary marshmallow falling on the surface of a neutron star would cause an explosion equivalent to a thousand hydrogen bombs. The collision of a neutron star with an asteroid is a rare phenomenon — only one every 10 million years in our galaxy. However, the large number of neutron stars and galaxies in the Universe provides a sufficient frequency of these events to explain the current rate of FRBs.
Photo: NRAO Outreach/T. Jarrett
Scientists note that such a mechanism can explain one-time FRBs, but not repeated bursts. The latter may require the presence of a dense asteroid belt, as in our solar system. To better understand the nature of FRBs, researchers plan to trace these phenomena to their host galaxies with telescopes such as CHIME, CHORD and ASKAP.
A team of scientists has confirmed that mysterious bursts of energy known as fast radio bursts (Fast Radio Bursts, FRBs) can occur as a result of collisions between asteroids and ultra-dense neutron stars. This phenomenon releases an enormous amount of energy — enough to provide electricity to humanity for 100 million years.
FRBs are short pulses of radio waves, the duration of which varies from a millisecond to several seconds. During this time, the flare can emit as much energy as the Sun produces in several days. The first FRB was recorded in 2007, but their research only progressed significantly with the arrival of the Canadian radio telescope CHIME in 2017, which began recording these events regularly. Research indicates that collisions of asteroids or comets with neutron stars can cause bursts of radio waves, similar to FRBs.
Background: Neutron stars are the super-dense remnants of massive stars that have the strongest magnetic and gravitational fields in the universe.
According to astrophysicist Matthew Hopkins, during such a collision, colossal energy is released. For example, even an ordinary marshmallow falling on the surface of a neutron star would cause an explosion equivalent to a thousand hydrogen bombs. The collision of a neutron star with an asteroid is a rare phenomenon — only one every 10 million years in our galaxy. However, the large number of neutron stars and galaxies in the Universe provides a sufficient frequency of these events to explain the current rate of FRBs.
Photo: NRAO Outreach/T. Jarrett
Scientists note that such a mechanism can explain one-time FRBs, but not repeated bursts. The latter may require the presence of a dense asteroid belt, as in our solar system. To better understand the nature of FRBs, researchers plan to trace these phenomena to their host galaxies with telescopes such as CHIME, CHORD and ASKAP.
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