Monday 16 October 2017

Unpacking What We Just Learned About Neutron Star Collisions

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Here are answers to some questions you might have about the discovery that was announced on Monday.
via New York Times

Catch a fleeting kilonova

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Alerted by the first-ever gravitational waves caused by two neutron stars merging, astronomers detect the resulting optical flash.
via Science Daily
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Seeing the light of neutron star collisions

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When two neutron stars collided on Aug. 17, a widespread search for electromagnetic radiation from the event led to observations of light from the afterglow of the explosion, finally connecting a gravitational-wave-producing event with conventional astronomy using light, according to an international team of astronomers.
via Science Daily
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Gravitational waves plus new clues from space reveal new way to make a black hole

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For the first time, scientists have detected both gravitational waves and light shooting toward our planet from the birthplace of a new black hole created by the merger of two neutron stars. The discovery marks the beginning of a new era of
via Science Daily
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Gamma-ray burst detection just what researchers exclusively predicted

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More than a month before a game-changing detection of a short gamma-ray burst, scientists predicted such a discovery would occur.
via Science Daily
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Hubble observes source of gravitational waves for the first time

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The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has observed for the first time the source of a gravitational wave, created by the merger of two neutron stars. This merger created a kilonova -- an object predicted by theory decades ago -- that ejects heavy elements such as gold and platinum into space. This event also provides the strongest evidence yet that short duration gamma-ray bursts are caused by mergers of neutron stars.
via Science Daily
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Astronomers strike cosmic gold, confirm origin of precious metals in neutron star mergers

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What many thought would be a long way off, the detection of gravitational waves from the merger of binary neutron stars, actually happened on Aug. 17. The observation of a blue and then red glow from the radioactive debris cloud left behind matched simulations of what the merger should look like, proving that such mergers are the source of most of the very heavy elements in the universe, including gold.
via Science Daily
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NASA Missions Catch First Light From a Gravitational-Wave Event


Neutron Star Collision Cooks Up Exotic Elements, Gravitational Waves

When some people get in the kitchen, they create a delicious meal but leave behind a chaotic mess of splattered food and dirty dishes. Cosmic cookery can be just as messy. While a star can create chemical elements as heavy as iron within its core, anything heavier needs a more powerful source like a stellar explosion or the collision of two neutron stars.

Colliding neutron stars can yield gold, plutonium, and a variety of other elements. Theoretically, they also generate gravitational waves as they spiral together at breakneck speed before merging. The first gravitational wave signal from a neutron star merger was detected on August 17. It was accompanied by gamma rays and other light, allowing astronomers to locate a gravitational wave source for the first time.

Hubble photographed the glow from this titanic collision, shining within the galaxy NGC 4993 at a distance of 130 million light-years. Hubble also obtained an infrared spectrum that may yield signs of exotic, radioactive elements. The analysis will continue while astronomers wait for the gravitational wave source to emerge from behind the Sun from Earth’s point of view, where it slipped just days after discovery.


via Hubble - News feed
http://hubblesite.org/news_release/news/2017-41

Integral sees blast travelling with gravitational waves

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ESA’s Integral satellite recently played a crucial role in discovering the flash of gamma rays linked to the gravitational waves released by the collision of two neutron stars.


via ESA Space Science
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Integral_sees_blast_travelling_with_gravitational_waves

First observations of merging neutron stars mark a new era in astronomy

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After LIGO detected gravitational waves from the merger of two neutron stars, the race was on to detect a visible counterpart, because unlike the colliding black holes responsible for LIGO's four previous detections, this event was expected to produce an explosion of visible light. Researchers have now found the source of the gravitational waves, capturing the first images of the event with the Swope Telescope in Chile.
via Science Daily
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LIGO Detects Fierce Collision of Neutron Stars for the First Time

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Seen and heard, the fireball is a stunning breakthrough into kilonovas, bursts of energy believed to produce metals like gold and uranium in the universe.
via New York Times

Detecting a Kilonova Explosion

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For the first time, astronomers have seen and heard a pair of neutron stars collide in a crucible of cosmic alchemy.
via New York Times

Radio 'eyes' unlocking secrets of neutron-star collision

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When a pair of superdense neutron stars collided and potentially formed a black hole in a galaxy 130 million light-years from Earth, they unleashed not only a train of gravitational waves but also an ongoing torrent of radio waves that are answering some of the biggest questions about the nature of such a cataclysmic event.
via Science Daily
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