Colliding Neutron Stars, Gravity Waves, and the Origin of the Heavy Elements

Jan. 24, 2018
Dr. Eliot Quataert (University of California, Berkeley)
Recently one third of the world's astronomers became involved in observing a distant and violent event, when two neutron stars collided and exploded. This represented the first time in history that a cosmic event was observed with both gravity waves and light -- the birth of "multi-messenger astronomy." Dr. Quataert gives a non-technical history of how we are now able to find gravity waves, what happens during such a merger, and why we now believe that much of the gold, platinum, uranium and other heavy elements in the universe is assembled in such mergers.