New frontier for science as astronomers witness neutron stars colliding

Extraordinary event has been ‘seen’ for the first time, in both gravitational waves and light – ending decades-old debate about where gold comes fromThe collision of a pair of neutron stars, marked by ripples through the fabric of space-time and a flash brighter than a billion suns, has been witnessed for the first time in the most intensely observed astronomical event to date.The extraordinary sequence, in which the two ultra-dense stars spiralled inwards, violently collided and, in all likelihood, immediately collapsed into a black hole, was first picked up by the US-based Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (Ligo).Continue reading...

Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - October 16, 2017 Category: Science Authors: Hannah Devlin Science correspondent Tags: Science Astronomy Space Black holes Gravity Gold Commodities World news Source Type: news