NEWS

Astronomers capture violent collision between two neutron stars

Published

2 years ago

July 12, 2023

Astronomers led by Andrew Levan have discovered a crash between two neutron stars captured by the James Web Space Telescope (JWST)

The team discovered the violent crash called ‘kilonova tracing a dazzling gama-ray burst (GRB) beyond the galaxy using the JWST

By the discovery, astronomers have found evidence of action to the previous thought that precious elements such as gold, uranium and platinum are formed in space during neutron stars collision. The GRB which is designated 230307A was initially detected by Nasa’s Fermi Gama-ray on March 7, designated 230307A is the second brightest to be found.

The team observed the kilonova twice and accompanied emissions resulting from a ‘neutron capture, or the r- process. “In a work led by Andrew Levan we detected kilonova emissions with JWST after a gama-ray burst (GRB )”, co author Brian Metzger said in a tweeter post.

“In perhaps the biggest twist: the GRB – the second brightest to be discovered lasted half a minute, and burst accompanied by r- process production” Though the astronomers did not find a glint of gold during the tracing, it discovered a toxic element used in CDs and DVDs as well as a group of 15 rare earth elements that are heavier than Les know as lanthanides.