Author: Michael

A powerful X-ray burst erupts from a magnetar–a supermagnetized version of a stellar remnant known as a neutron star–in this illustration of an event that implicates these husks as a likely source of mysterious fast radio bursts. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA) In the series I Made a Big Mistake, PopSci explores mishaps and misunderstandings, in all their shame and glory. Astronomers can’t help but be enchanted with fast radio bursts, or FRBs, thanks to their mysterious nature. These humongous pulses of radio waves blast toward Earth from outer space, often from beyond the Milky Way. But these bursts were almost…

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