Neutron stars collide: Two stars have smashed into each other, shaking the fabric of the universe and spraying out gold

Ella Wills17 October 2017

Two stars in a nearby galaxy collided in a huge explosion 130 million light years away, which shook the universe and distorted space-time.

The crash, which saw the stars spiralling around each other, was the first time scientists have observed a single source emitting ripples, known as gravitational waves, throughout space-time.

The explosion was caused by two neutron stars and emitted huge amounts of metallic and radioactive waste, including gold, plutonium and uranium.

The event is said to mark a “new chapter in astrophysics”, proving theories about the origin of neutron stars. This is only the fifth time that gravitational waves have been discovered on Earth.

The moment the stars crash into one another in an explosion that shook the universe
PA

The gravitational waves given off by the event were measured on 17 August by the LIGO-VIRGO Collaboration.

After researchers felt the universe shaking, 70 telescopes all over the world were used to capture detailed images of the light and radiation pouring out of the smashing stars.

They viewed an explosion that was 1,000 times more powerful than a supernova, known as a kilonova.

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Previously astronomers linked gravitational waves to black holes colliding in remote regions of the universe more than a billion light years away.

Gravitational waves make kinks in space-time that stretch everything they pass through by a small amount - less than the width of an atom.

This crash was much closer. It was in a galaxy called NGC 499 which located roughly a thousand billion, billion km away in the Constellation Hydra. It was caused by neutron stars, which are dead stars, or the smallest, densest known stars.

Researchers had previously thought that the energy released in a kilonova could create elements such as gold and plutonium and this theory is now proved.The findings were published in a series of papers in journals including Nature, Nature Astronomy, and Physical Review Letters.

Another discovery was the origin of short-duration gamma ray bursts (GRBs), which are the most powerful explosions known to science. Scientists now know that one type of GRB is generated when neutron stars collide.

Dr Samantha Oates, from the University of Warwick, said: "This discovery has answered three questions that astronomers have been puzzling for decades: what happens when neutron stars merge? What causes the short duration gamma-ray bursts? Where are the heavy elements, like gold, made? In the space of about a week all three of these mysteries were solved."

Colleague Dr Danny Steeghs said: "This is a new chapter in astrophysics."

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