News Astronomy

Crumbling planets might trigger repeating fast radio bursts

It’s one more hypothesis among many for the source of these flares

illustration of a magnetic neutron star

Interactions between a planet and a magnetic neutron star (illustrated) might be the source of repeating, millisecond-long bursts of cosmic radio waves.

Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library/Getty

By Liz Kruesi

- More than 2 years ago

Fragmenting planets sweeping extremely close to their stars might be the cause of mysterious cosmic blasts of radio waves.