The Final Symphony of Neutron Stars ⚡ экспресс
The first three-dimensional global kinetic models of interacting neutron star magnetospheres in a binary system before merger are presented. With anti-parallel magnetic moments, the connecting fields get twisted, triggering periodic eruptions — expanding magnetic flux tubes with a trailing reconnection current sheet, much like coronal mass ejections. Efficient dissipation of magnetic energy in these sheets powers two new types of electromagnetic precursors. The first: non-thermal gamma-ray signals peaking at ~16 MeV, emerging minutes to seconds before merger while the sheet is still transparent to pairs, with a modest luminosity of >10^42 erg/s, detectable only for nearby events. The second: coalescence of plasmoids in the sheet produces fast radio bursts in the last seconds, with radio luminosity ~10^38–10^40 erg/s. Such coherent radio precursors could be picked up by future instruments: either in untargeted surveys with wide-field systems like CHORD, or through targeted follow-ups triggered by gravitational-wave alerts using telescopes like DSA and SKA-mid.
Two neutron stars — these are ultra-dense remnants of dead stars, each the size of a city but heavier than the Sun. Their existence was predicted back in 1934 by Fritz Zwicky. A teaspoon of this matter weighs billions of tons. When two such objects draw close before merging, their magnetic fields twist and snap like taut strings. This produces powerful gamma-ray flashes and rapid radio pulses — a farewell symphony accessible to observers minutes before the catastrophe.
These signals, as it turns out, explain the enigmatic fast radio bursts — millisecond-long pulses from deep in the universe that have puzzled scientists until now. Astronomers will be able to aim telescopes in advance and witness the very moment of merger. Many neutron stars, by the way, manifest as pulsars — cosmic lighthouses discovered by Jocelyn Bell Burnell, and the merger itself generates gravitational waves — ripples in spacetime itself.
🎯 It turns out that fast radio bursts, which have baffled astronomers for decades, may be born precisely from the magnetic 'strings' between merging neutron stars.