Astronomers Observe First-Ever 'Kilanova' — Here's What's Going On
On Monday, astronomers announced a hugely exciting new discovery: For the first time ever, they've observed two neutron stars colliding — and creating gravitational waves. One astronomer described the discovery as "the holy grail."
It's a blockbuster discovery for a number of reasons, but particularly as it's the first time the origin of the gravitational waves has been visible — the previous gravitational wave discoveries have come from colliding black holes. The new discovery offers an opportunity to learn more:
These discoveries told scientists a great deal about the types of black holes found in our Universe, but they don't offer much opportunity for follow-up observations. Black holes have incredibly strong gravitational pulls, so nothing — not even light — can escape from them. Even if astronomers could pinpoint where a black hole merger occurred, telescopes that observe light wouldn't be able to see anything. That's why astronomers have been eager to find merging neutron stars.
The observation appears to have revealed the origins of gold and other similar elements
The event was the first direct sighting of a smashup of neutron stars, which are formed when aging stars explode and leave behind a neutron-rich remnant. In the wake of the collision, the churning residue forged gold, silver, platinum and a smattering of other heavy elements such as uranium, researchers reported October 16 at a news conference in Washington, D.C. Such elements' birthplaces were previously unknown, but their origins were revealed by the cataclysm's afterglow. "It really is the last missing piece" of the periodic table, says Anna Frebel, an astronomer at MIT who was not involved in the research. "This is heaven for anyone working in the field." After the collision, about 10 times the Earth's mass in gold was spewed out into space, scientists calculated.
The discovery is the result of thousands of astronomers coordinating their efforts:
As night fell in Chile, a small telescope had pinpointed the signals in the sky: the first ever neutron star smash-up found with gravitational waves. Hours after the first signal in the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detector in Hanford, Washington, on 17 August, about 70 telescopes and observatories across the planet and in space turned in concert to face the same spot in the constellation Hydra. "I don't think it's out of the question that this is the most observed astronomical event ever. It's a thrilling notion, and a little overwhelming," says LIGO spokesperson David Shoemaker. "We've got somewhere between a quarter and a third of all the world's astronomers working with us."
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