What if the repetitive fast radio bursts were due to planets?

What if the repetitive fast radio bursts were due to

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[EN VIDÉO] Two neutron stars merge into a black hole
In this animation (not an observation), NASA shows what is thought to be the collision of two neutron stars that formed a couple, one rotating around the other. Resulting from the collapse of a large star, these stars are extremely dense. When the two bodies get too close, the tidal forces begin to tear them apart. Red areas show regions of lower density. The fusion gives a body so dense that it becomes a black hole. This scenario was validated in October 2017 by the analysis of gravitational waves identified by Ligo and Virgo in August 2017 from the source called GW170817. © Nasa

In a few thousandths of a second, they emit as manyenergy which our Sun in a whole day. Those that the astronomers call fast radio bursts — or FRB for Fast Radio Bursts. Some only appear once. While others seem to want to repeat themselves. And while the source of the FRBs remains a mystery, Chinese Academy of Sciences astronomers suggest today that the repetition of these bursts could be due to an interaction with a planet.

By comparing observed data for two sources of repetitive rapid radio bursts — one with a frequency of 160 days and the other with a frequency of 16 days — with computer simulations, the researchers were able to make the connection. The tidal forces exerted by a neutron star on its planet could explain both the frequency and the brightness of these bursts.

Torn pieces of planet

What happens then? Astronomers say that it can happen that a planet in orbit around a neutron star comes very close. In the case of a very elliptical orbit, for example, the gravity deforms the planet as it passes closest to its star. So much so that pieces of the planet are torn off. Only a few kilometers wide. Barely one millionth of the mass of the planet.

The researchers’ idea is that the encounter between the wind stellar spewed by the neutron star and these pieces of planet can produce extremely intense radio emissions. Which could take the form of FRBs repeating each time a piece of planet seems, from our point of view, to pass in front of the neutron star. Finally, with each passage of the planet close to its star. Observing a change in the orbit of the tormented planet could be evidence for this scenario.

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