Asteroid Impacts on Neutron Stars Could Explain Mysterious Radio Bursts

Astronomers have traced mysterious, repeating radio bursts to a red dwarf star likely in a binary orbit with a white dwarf. These long-period radio transients, first discovered in 2022, challenge existing theories as they pulse every 18 minutes, unlike typical radio pulsars. The discovery of a new source, GLEAM-X J0704-37, with pulses every 2.9 hours, suggests the radio waves may result from interactions between the red dwarf's stellar wind and the white dwarf's magnetic field. This finding could lead to a better understanding of such cosmic phenomena.