WHAT ELSE COULD BE CAUSING FAST RADIO BURSTS?
Flaring star
Some
stars are known to suddenly flare up on occasion. It's possible that
this event could send light through the thick ejected layers of a star's
atmosphere in bursts, but if this were the cause we would expect to
find FRBs towards variable stars (ones with fluctuating brightness) in our galaxy, which is not the case.
White dwarf merger
When
two white dwarfs merge its possible they can combine into a larger,
rapidly spinning white dwarf. This event could emit radiation from the
poles consistent with FRBs and, if this is proved correct, it could
indicate an association between FRBs and supernovae.
Neutron star collision
Ultra-dense
stellar objects known as neutron stars could collide and release huge bursts of
radiation before they merge - this event is already thought to be a
cause of high-energy bursts known as Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs), and could
also be the cause of FRBs.
Blitzar
Some
neutron stars are regarded as being 'supramassive', which means they
are so massive they should have already collapsed into a black hole but
their rapid rotation keeps them alive. When they do suddenly collapse
they release an intense burst of radio waves known as a blitzar, and
within this emission FRBs could also be residing.
How
the double burst has confounded scientists. The team said: 'Many of the
proposed models to explain FRBs use a single high energy event
involving compact objects (such as neutron star mergers) and therefore
cannot easily explain a two-component FRB.'
Comments
Post a Comment