Radio signals at the edge of extreme stars come from far beyond their surfaces

Radio signals at the edge of extreme stars come from far beyond their surfaces

Pulsars are ultra-dense, rapidly spinning, and highly magnetized remnants of dead stars. They act like cosmic lighthouses, sending out regular pulses of radio waves and sometimes gamma rays in beams that sweep across the sky. A special class called millisecond pulsars spins hundreds of times per second and is among the most precise clocks in the universe. For decades, astronomers believed that a pulsar's radio signals are only produced close to …

Radio Signals from the Edge of Extreme Stars

Astronomers have discovered that some of the Universe’s fastest-spinning stars, millisecond pulsars, broadcast radio waves from much farther out than previously thought. Studying nearly 200 pulsars, the team found that about one-third emit radio signals from multiple regions, with some pulses perfectly lining up with gamma-ray flashes. This suggests that radio waves are produced not only near the star’s surface but also in a distant, swirling “c…