Maxim Lyutikov

Two neutron stars spiral closer together, about to merge in an instant. Their dance lasts fractions of a second, but just before the finale, one star plows into the other's magnetic envelope, like a swimmer cutting through water, kicking up waves. At that moment, a complex system of currents is born, carrying energy away.

A thin layer of oil on the surface of water breaks into separate droplets at the slightest disturbance. Something similar happens in the pulsar wind — a stream of particles ejected by a rapidly rotating neutron star. This stream also contains plasma layers, which can break apart into clumps — magnetic islands.

In 1967, astronomers caught the first radio signal from a distant cosmic lighthouse — a pulsar. Since then, thousands of these stellar remnants have been discovered, slicing through space with beams like a revolver's burst.

Fast radio bursts (FRB) — mysterious beacons of the Universe, emitting in milliseconds energy comparable to the Sun’s radiation over centuries.

The agony of a solitary black hole lasts forever. But in its final moments, as its mass evaporates according to the law discovered by Hawking, it manages to send a radio farewell signal. Not a quantum whisper, but a classical hum — if only there's a magnetic field nearby.