Kilonova Explosion

December 30, 2023

An international team of researchers have developed a method to model the observable signs of a kilonova explosion from the explosive merger of two orbiting neutron stars.
Neutron stars are superdense astrophysical objects formed at the end of a massive star’s life in a supernova explosion.
- Sometimes, neutron stars orbit each other in binary systems.
- These systems constantly lose energy by emitting gravitational waves until they eventually collide and merge.
- Such mergers let researchers study the physical properties of the most extreme conditions in the universe.
- For example, the conditions of these high-energy collisions lead to the formation of heavy elements like gold.