The Golden Path: The Hubble Space Telescope observation confirms a half-year-old theory of Israeli researchers that explains the origin of gold and silver in the universe

In 1989 Prof. Zvi Piran published a theoretical study predicting the results of neutron star collisions - among other things, the creation of gold and other heavy substances. This month a study was published in Nature revealing a discovery of grief that confirmed this.

In the second half of the 1989th century, scientists began to turn to space exploration to uncover answers to the most fundamental questions facing humanity. Today it is possible to observe events in space that only a short time ago could only be imagined. From time to time, these observations reveal answers to fascinating puzzles with implications for what is happening on Earth. One such puzzle has to do with the origin of gold in the universe. This month an article was published in NATURE revealing a discovery by the Hubble satellite in which a collision of highly compressed stars called neutron stars was observed. This observation is of great importance to the scientific community and to Prof. Zvi Piren from the Hebrew University in particular, since in XNUMX he published a theoretical study predicting the experimental results discovered in the collision.

Neutron stars are created from a stellar collapse called a supernova in which many materials are thrown into space and remain in the center of stars compressed with very high energy - a cubic cm of material in this star weighs 100 million tons. A pair of such stars rotating around each other approach each other until a collision in which the neutron stars merge and form a black hole. Prof. Piren's research dealt with the consequences of this collision and actually answered two separate and fascinating scientific mysteries.

The first mystery was the source of strong gamma ray flashes that were first observed in the late sixties of the last century. These flashes indicate massive explosions. The energy released in them in a few seconds is equal to the energy that our sun will emit during its entire life. A solution to this mystery is important for the advancement of the scientific pursuit of the discovery of the gravitational radiation that Einstein predicted and has not yet been confirmed experimentally. According to Einstein's theory, the neutron stars approach each other while emitting gravitational radiation. Prof. Piren claimed that these stellar collisions are the source of the release of the short gamma ray flashes, which is an indirect link between the gravitational radiation and these rays.

The second mystery that preoccupies many scientists is the origin of the heavy elements in nature such as silver, gold and uranium. It has been known for many years that the source of the light elements in nature, from hydrogen to iron, is the sitanse that the stars create during their lifetime up to supernova. The materials scattered in space form planets and solar systems, but the origin of the heavy elements remains a mystery. Prof. Piren showed in his research that the conditions created during the collision of neutron stars are suitable for the creation of these heavy substances.

These materials, which are thrown into space during the explosion and include the gold and silver in the universe, will emit weak infrared light in the week after the neutron star collision. In early June 2013, NASA's Swift satellite detected a brief burst of gamma radiation. A week later the Hubble Space Telescope detected the expected infrared pulse. This infrared light is an observational signature for gold and other heavy elements and gives resounding confirmation to the 24-year-old theory of the Israeli researchers that the short gamma radiation flashes are created by merging neutron stars.

See a separate news about the discovery by Harvard researchers: the gold on Earth was created from neutron stars