Astronomers have observed the afterglow of the epic “kilonova” explosion caused by the collision of two extremely dense neutron stars.
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Kilonova are massive explosions caused by the collision of neutron stars with each other, which leads to sending an intense jet of high-energy particles through space, and the explosion produces a luminous flash of radioactive light, which produces large amounts of important elements such as silver, gold, and platinum, and uranium.
The researchers believe they detected the “afterglow” from the kilonova event, in the form of X-rays, captured by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.
The new study was led by experts at the Northwestern Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA) in Evanston, Illinois. “We’ve entered uncharted territory here to study the effects of a neutron star merger,” said Abrajita Hajila of Northwestern, who led the study. Something new and unusual for the first time, and this gives us an opportunity to study and understand new physical processes, which have not been observed before.”
Neutron stars – the collapsed cores of giant stars – have a very small radius (usually 18.6 miles, or 30 km) and a very high density, made mostly of compact neutrons, and are among the densest things in the universe.
When two neutron stars orbit closely apart, they gradually rotate inward due to gravitational radiation, almost like two coins approaching each other, and they come close to each other when they reach the center of the coin rotor.
When two neutron stars meet, their merger leads to the formation of an even more massive neutron star, or black hole, depending on the mass. A kilonova is essentially the explosion that occurs as a result of this merger, which is 1,000 times brighter than a nova or Classic blast.