Neutron star merger - breakthrough of the year according to SCIENCE magazine

SCIENCE magazine chose the first observation of a neutron star merger, a violent celestial event that proved a theory proposed by Albert Einstein, as the breakthrough of the year.

Artist's rendering of the merger of two neutron stars. Source: University of Warwick/Mark Garlick.
Artist's rendering of the merger of two neutron stars. source: University of Warwick/Mark Garlick.

The gravitational waves created by the collision 130 million light years away, small ripples in the fabric of space-time - were measured by huge gravitational wave detectors on Earth. The resulting explosion was studied by hundreds of astronomers around the world.

Researchers first discovered gravitational waves two years ago, when two black holes crashed into each other. The tremor of space was detected in the Laser Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) which was named Breakthrough of the Year in 2016 and its designers won the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2017. The discovery showed that gravitational waves offer a new way of observing the universe, and they will be a major tool for astronomers.

"Gravitational waves are a lasting gift," explained SCIENCE News Editor Tim Appenzler. "This year, the researchers not only detected the gravitational waves from the collision event of two neutron stars; but in that event all wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum were observed, from gamma rays to radio, which allows them to get a complete picture of such violent events. This is a revolution in astrophysics, which is why we chose this observation As the breakthrough of 2017."

"Last year's big discovery was the vehicle that enabled this year's breakthrough," agreed one of the magazine's editors, Adrian Chu. "This is the first time in 22 years that the same scientific field has been involved in the breakthrough for two consecutive years, but both discoveries were convincing and there was no need for many discussions on this topic."

On August 17, telescopes observing gamma rays sensed the neutron star merger, an event in which many heavy elements are formed, and tested the theory of general relativity. Gravitational waves originating from the event were detected by two LIGO detectors in Washington state and Louisiana, and by the French-Italian Virago detector near Pisa, Italy.

Thanks to the discovery of the gravitational waves by three different detectors, the scientists were able to act quickly and locate the location of the neutron stars in the sky. Within 11 hours several teams discovered the new source at the edge of the galaxy NGC4993. This is the single most studied event in the history of astronomy. 3,674 researchers from 953 institutions collaborated in one article summarizing the merger and what happened after it."

"Whether it's gamma rays, infrared radiation or radio waves, astronomers usually see the universe through some form of light. When they see a violent explosion of masers, the glare can be blinding and it's hard to guess what's really going on inside," Chu said. "But gravitational waves are a completely different type of radiation and they allow researchers to see through the glare."

"Until now, astronomers had to watch these events as if they were watching a burning house. They saw only the flames engulfing the building. Now, they can see through the flames the beams collapsing inside the house. "In this case, gravitational waves allowed the scientists to immediately determine that it was A case of two neutron stars collapsing into each other. The waves revealed the weight of the neutron stars precisely when they collided," Chu said.

"The observations supported a 25-year-old hypothesis that merging neutron stars also create a short burst of gamma radiation, and confirmed that gravitational waves travel at the speed of light, and also ruled out several speculative alternatives to Einstein's theory of gravity and general relativity. "This only increases the researchers' appetite for more data. , they want to see more such mergers."

The next step is to detect the event in the stages before the final collision of the neutron stars, and for this it is necessary to upgrade the LIGO and VIRGO detectors. This upgrade could provide insights into the nature of neutron stars, for example what happens when they spin together. There are plans to improve LIGO's sensitivity at higher frequencies. The scientists will begin such efforts by manipulating the detector's laser light, although this could take several years.

"Even with the current detector I hope we can see new types of rare events such as more neutron star-black hole collisions. Supernova explosions of individual stars in our galaxy may also create detectable gravitational waves that will help understand exactly how stars explode. But there may yet be an observation Intriguing that even the theorists didn't predict," Cho said.

See more on the subject on the science website:

Summary of 2017 on the knowledge website:

4 תגובות

  1. Tuesday, 07/13/2021 – 16:05
    Neutron star
    To understand a neutron star. It is necessary to understand the role of neutrons in the atom.
    The role of neutrons in the atom, the neutrons orbit inside the nucleus of the atom and are charged with a positive potential. As soon as they are charged they are pushed out of the nucleus or rather fired. and enter the energy circuit of the electron where they discharge the positive charge and are charged with a negative charge, the process is so fast because because of this its neutral charge takes the place of the neutron fired from the nucleus by another free neutron. The fired neutron is stripped of its positive charge on the electron and charged negatively from here through to the nucleus of the nearest neighboring atom to attach to the nucleus of the neighboring atom.
    Neutron stars are actually stars that have so many thermonuclear processes on their surface that the masses of positively charged neutrons and the mass of negatively charged neutrons are greater than the mass of atoms in space, therefore the attraction between the masses of positively charged neutrons and the masses of negatively charged neutrons creates powerful magnetic fields /
    In a neutron star the mass of the free neutrons is greater than the mass of the atoms. At this critical point the neutrons turn the star into a neutron star. This happens in thermonuclear fusions that take place in a star. When the main majority of the star's mass is in a thermonuclear process that removes most of the electron masses, therefore the free neutron masses are large and the interrelationships between the negatively and positively charged neutrons create strong electromagnetic fields during their movement.
    Reply

  2. ravine
    The planets move at a certain speed, that is, they have kinetic energy. If something causes the planet to move towards its sun, it will cause acceleration. This acceleration will push the planet back into orbit.

    If there is friction then the planet will slow down and move closer towards the sun. This phenomenon is called low satellites. In the end, some do fall to Earth.

  3. I wanted to ask if someone here knows and can explain to me, how is it, that planets do not fall into their suns over time..?
    The balance between running away or falling, how exactly does it work?
    Would the earth have fallen to the sun at the end if she hadn't died before?
    Thanks in advance! Really intrigues me... :)

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