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Imagine two stars collide and create... metals.
Astronomers have discovered one of the most energetic explosions in the history of the universe - a burst of gamma rays caused by the collision of two neutron stars. For the first time, the formation of heavy metals as a result of this explosion was detected, the total weight of which is hundreds of Earth masses.
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most energetic known events since the Big Bang, releasing as much energy in a few seconds as the Sun does in its entire 10-billion-year life. They are thought to be part of the signal released during some supernovae or when neutron star pairs collide.
The recently described event, designated as GRB 230307A, belongs to the latter category. It was first detected by NASA's Fermi Gamma-Ray Space telescope on March 7 of this year and became the second most powerful GRB, second only to the burst that occurred in October 2022. This burst was not only extremely bright, but also lasted 200 seconds - 100 times longer than most GRBs caused by neutron star collisions.
The James Webb telescope was sent to the scene for a more detailed study. As a result, the GRB was tracked to intergalactic space, 120,000 light-years away from the nearest galaxy.
The most significant discovery was that the telescope detected the tellurium spectral fingerprint for the first time. On Earth, this heavy metal is less common than platinum, but it seems to be widespread in the universe. For a long time, it was assumed that tellurium is formed by collisions of neutron stars, and now this has been confirmed. The researchers estimated that the explosion produced an amount of tellurium equal to the mass of about 300 earths, as well as other elements, such as iodine.
"This discovery is a big step forward in our understanding of the formation sites of heavy elements in the universe and demonstrates the power of combining observations at different wavelengths to reveal new aspects of such extremely energetic explosions," said Benjamin Schneider, co-author of the study.
Astronomers have discovered one of the most energetic explosions in the history of the universe - a burst of gamma rays caused by the collision of two neutron stars. For the first time, the formation of heavy metals as a result of this explosion was detected, the total weight of which is hundreds of Earth masses.
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most energetic known events since the Big Bang, releasing as much energy in a few seconds as the Sun does in its entire 10-billion-year life. They are thought to be part of the signal released during some supernovae or when neutron star pairs collide.
The recently described event, designated as GRB 230307A, belongs to the latter category. It was first detected by NASA's Fermi Gamma-Ray Space telescope on March 7 of this year and became the second most powerful GRB, second only to the burst that occurred in October 2022. This burst was not only extremely bright, but also lasted 200 seconds - 100 times longer than most GRBs caused by neutron star collisions.
The James Webb telescope was sent to the scene for a more detailed study. As a result, the GRB was tracked to intergalactic space, 120,000 light-years away from the nearest galaxy.
The most significant discovery was that the telescope detected the tellurium spectral fingerprint for the first time. On Earth, this heavy metal is less common than platinum, but it seems to be widespread in the universe. For a long time, it was assumed that tellurium is formed by collisions of neutron stars, and now this has been confirmed. The researchers estimated that the explosion produced an amount of tellurium equal to the mass of about 300 earths, as well as other elements, such as iodine.
"This discovery is a big step forward in our understanding of the formation sites of heavy elements in the universe and demonstrates the power of combining observations at different wavelengths to reveal new aspects of such extremely energetic explosions," said Benjamin Schneider, co-author of the study.
