Colliding stars may have formed a black hole and shot off mysterious radio waves

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-03-28 02:00

Australia; WA

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A neutron star collision that left behind a black hole may have been the cause of a mysterious burst of radio waves in space, according to Aussie researchers. The team observed two neutron stars colliding and a bright, fast radio burst (FRB) event which occurred within 2.5 hours of each other in April 2019. Fast radio bursts  are bright millisecond-duration radio bursts that scientists have been tracking and studying because their origin is not well understood. The team say that their observations of the fast radio burst in April are consistent with the theory that a binary neutron star merger left behind a supermassive highly magnetised compact object, which collapsed to form a black hole and produced a fast radio burst in the process.