A Writer's Everything

A loud chirp and a large shockwave disrupt our universe, finally answering questions astronomers have been wondering for years.

In the past week, thousands of astronomers, such as those involved with the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO, announced their findings from a collision between two dead stars in the Hydra constellation that occurred in August.

New York Times’s Dennis Overbye reports that the astronomers, many a part of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration who studies gravitational waves, say the collision has answered the question of where the more dense materials of the universe, such as gold, silver, and uranium, come from.

The amount of matter in each of the stars, known as neutron stars, and their collision into each other created an explosion of gamma rays, X-rays, radio waves, and even a cloud of gold dust.

The astronomers are unsure of the remains of the collision, thinking of three possibilities: turning into a black hole, creating a bigger star that vanished, or staying in the spot of collision as another neutron star.