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1

Dimensionally speaking, the luminosity of a gravitationally radiating binary system, consisting of two objects of mass $M$, separated by $R$, goes as $(M/R)^5$. The timescale of the chirp for such a system goes as $M^{-3} R^4$. (Schutz 1999). Thus the total energy released goes as $M^2/R$, i.e. it is proportional to the gravitational potential energy of the ...

5

Two things would be required. First, your line of sight would have to be close to looking along the magnetic axis of the neutron star. Second, that magnetic axis would have to be closely aligned with the rotation axis of the pulsar. If both of these are pseudo-randomly distributed and the pulsar beam is narrow, then this is inherently a very unlikely ...

4

The electromagnetic radiation comes from accelerated charged particles, mainly electrons and positrons. The surface of a neutron star is not made of neutrons. It is a totally ionised gas of nuclei plus electrons, with a composition that could range from iron-peak elements to hydrogen and helium accreted from the interstellar medium. As a result of their ...

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