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Neutron star collision observed

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  • 16-10-2017 9:45pm
    #1
    josip
    Registered Users Posts: 13,686 ✭✭✭✭


    https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/oct/16/astronomers-witness-neutron-stars-collide-global-rapid-response-event-ligo
    ...Neutron stars are the smallest, densest stars known to exist: about 12 miles wide, with a teaspoon of neutron star material having a mass of about a billion tons. The core is a soup of pure neutrons, while the crust is smooth, solid and 10 billion times stronger than steel.


    The 100-second hum picked up by Ligo told the story of how the two stars, each slightly heavier than the sun, approached their death. Initially separated by 200 miles, they circled each other 30 times a second. As they whirled inwards, accelerating to 2,000 orbits each second, the signal rose in pitch like a slide whistle.
    ...
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    #2
    emo72
    Registered Users Posts: 6,222 ✭✭✭emo72


    read about it. exciting discovery. its not something thats easy to discuss for the layman though! the speed of those 2 stars rotating each other just before collision. no wonder it was rippling gravity. 2000 orbits a second! scary.


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