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Dead planets can 'broadcast' their 'zombie signals' for almost a billion years, study says

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Geekz Snow
Dead planets can 'broadcast' their 'zombie signals' for almost a billion years, study says

Planets that have been dead for almost a billion years may still be able to "broadcast" their signals in space, according to a new study.

According to research published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, planets that have been stripped down to their cores by their stars interact with that star (likely at the end of its lifespan and thus, a white dwarf) and send out radio waves, thanks to the magnetic field between the two celestial bodies.

The radio waves are often picked up by radio telescopes on Earth.

“There is a sweet spot for detecting these planetary cores: a core too close to the white dwarf would be destroyed by tidal forces, and a core too far away would not be detectable," the study's lead author, Dimitri Veras, said in a statement.

"Also, if the magnetic field is too strong, it would push the core into the white dwarf, destroying it," Veras continued.

"Hence, we should only look for planets around those white dwarfs with weaker magnetic fields at a separation between about 3 solar radii and the Mercury-Sun distance."

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