Mystery of Signal from Dead Star Finally Solved
A mysterious radio signal known as the 'zebra pattern' from the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star 6,200 light-years away, has been explained by astrophysicist Mikhail Medvedev. The pattern is caused by the diffraction of light through varying plasma densities in the pulsar's magnetosphere, creating interference fringes. This discovery, based on wave optics, offers a new method for measuring plasma density in pulsars and could enhance our understanding of these celestial objects.