Origins of universe's gold discovered in neutron star mergers
Channel: UC Berkeley
Date: 2017-10-16

The first detection of gravitational waves from the cataclysmic merger of two neutron stars, and the observation of visible light in the aftermath of that merger, finally answer a long-standing question in astrophysics: Where do the heaviest elements, ranging from silver and other precious metals to uranium, come from?

Based on the brightness and color of the light emitted following the merger, which closely match theoretical predictions by University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory physicists, astronomers can now say that the gold or platinum in your wedding ring was in all likelihood forged during the brief but violent merger of two orbiting neutron stars somewhere in the universe.

This is the first detection of a neutron star merger by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors in the United States, whose leaders were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics two weeks ago, and the Virgo detector in Italy. LIGO had previously detected gravitational waves from four black hole mergers, and Virgo one, but such events should be completely dark. This is the first time that light associated with a source of gravitational waves has been detected.

“We have been working for years to predict what the light from a neutron merger would look like,” said Daniel Kasen, an associate professor of physics and of astronomy at UC Berkeley and a scientist at Berkeley Lab. “Now that theoretical speculation has suddenly come to life.”

For the full story, visit: https://news.berkeley.edu/2017/10/16/astronomers-strike-cosmic-gold/

Video by Roxanne Makasdjian and Stephen McNally
Music: "Wonder Cycle" by Chris Zabriskie

Multimedia provided by:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab
Gemini Observatory/NSF/AURA/
Edo Berger (Harvard), Peter Blanchard (Harvard),
Ryan Chornock (Ohio University),
Leo Singer (NASA), Mansi Kasliwal (Caltech),
Ryan Lau (Caltech) and the GROWTH collaboration
1M2H/UC Santa Cruz and Carnegie Observatories/Ryan Foley
Dan Kasen, UC Berkeley
Wolfgang Kastaun, T. Kawamura, B. Giacomazzo, W. Kastaun, R. Ciolfi, and A. Endrizzi
Stephan Rosswog
Fermilab

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