Artist’s impression of merging neutron stars
This artist’s impression shows two tiny but very dense neutron stars at the point at which they merge and explode as a kilonova. Such a very rare event is expected to produce both gravitational waves and a short gamma-ray burst, both of which were observed on 17 August 2017 by LIGO–Virgo and Fermi/INTEGRAL respectively. Subsequent detailed observations with many ESO telescopes confirmed that this object, seen in the galaxy NGC 4993 about 130 million light-years from the Earth, is indeed a kilonova. Such objects are the main source of very heavy chemical elements, such as gold and platinum, in the Universe.
Oikeudet:ESO/L. Calçada/M. Kornmesser
Kuvasta
Tunnistus: | eso1733a |
Tyyppi: | Kuvitus |
Julkaisupäivä: | 16. lokakuuta 2017 16:00 |
Vastaavat julkaisut: | eso1733 |
Koko: | 5000 x 3293 px |
Kohteesta
Nimi: | GW170817, NGC 4993 |
Tyyppi: | Local Universe : Star : Evolutionary Stage : Neutron Star |
Kategoria: | Illustrations Stars |