Astronomers have tried to determine the cosmic origins of the heaviest elements, such as the gold for decades. Now, a new sign -based research -based survey of spatial missions can point to a possible track: Magnetares, or highly magnetized neutron stars.
Scientists believe that lighter elements such as hydrogen and helium, and even a small amount of lithium, probably existed shortly after Big Bang created the universe 13.8 billion years ago.
So, explosion stars released heavier elements as iron which were incorporated into newborn stars and planets. But the distribution of gold, which is heavier than iron, throughout the universe has represented a mystery to astrophysicists.
“It is a very fundamental issue in terms of the origin of complex matter in the universe,” said Anirudh Patel, the main author of the study published on Tuesday (29) in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and PhD in Physics at Columbia University in New York, in a statement. “It’s a fun puzzle that hasn’t been really resolved yet.”
Previously, cosmic gold production had only been related to neutron stars collisions.
Astronomers observed a collision between two neutron stars in 2017. Cataclysmic shock released ripples in spacetime, known as gravitational waves, as well as light of an explosion of gamma rays. The collision event, known as Kilonova, also created heavy elements such as gold, platinum and lead. The kilonovas have been compared to gold “factories” in space.
Most neutron star mergers are believed to have occurred only in recent billions of years, said study co-author Eric Burns, assistant professor and astrophysicist at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
But previously indecipherable data from 20 years behind NASA telescopes and the European space agency suggest that explosions of magnetres who graduated long before – during the universe’s childhood – may have provided another way to create gold, Burns said.
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Exploded stars
Neutron stars are the remnants of the exploded star nuclei, and are so dense that 1 teaspoon of the star weighing 1 billion tons on Earth. Magnetares are an extremely bright neutron star with an incredibly powerful magnetic field.
Astronomers are still trying to find out exactly how magnetar form, but theorize that the first Magnetares probably appeared shortly after the first stars, around 200 million years from the beginning of the universe, or about 13.6 billion years ago, Burns said.
On earth, earthquakes occur because the melted nucleus of the earth causes movement in the planet’s crust, and when sufficient tension accumulates, it results in volatile motion, or the soil shaking under its feet. Star earthquakes are similar, Burns said.
“Neutron stars have a crust and a superfluid core,” Burns said in an email. “Movement under the surface accumulates tension on the surface, which may eventually cause a star earthquake. In the magnetar, these star earthquakes produce very short x-ray explosions. Just like on earth, you have periods when a particular star is particularly active, producing hundreds or thousands of explosions in a few weeks. And similarly, from time to time, a particularly powerful earthot occurs.”
The researchers found evidence suggesting that a magnetar releases material during a giant explosion, but did not have a physical explanation for the ejection of the star’s mass, Patel said. It is likely that the explosions will warm and eject the crust material at high speeds, according to recent research by various co -authors of the new study, including Patel advisor Brian Metzger, professor of physics at Columbia University and senior research scientist at Flatron Institute in New York.
“They hypothesized that the physical conditions of this explosive mass ejection were promising for the production of heavy elements,” said Patel.
Mapping a star signal
The research team was curious to see if there could be a connection between the radiation of Magnetares explosions and the formation of heavy elements. Scientists sought evidence in visible and ultraviolet wavelengths. Burns wondered if the explosion could create a traceable range. He analyzed data rays of the last giant explosion of the observed magnetar, which appeared in December 2004 and was captured by the now retired Integral Mission (International Laboratory of Gama Ray Astrophysics).
Astronomers had found and characterized the sign, but they did not know how to interpret it at the time, said Burns.
The forecast of the model proposed by the previous Metzger research was closely corresponded to the 2004 data signal. The gamma ray resembled what the team proposed to be the creation and distribution of heavy elements in a giant magnetar explosion.
Data from retired Rhesi (Spectroscopic High Energy Spectroscopic Imageador Reuven Ramaty) from NASA and the Wind satellite also supported the team’s discoveries. The long -term federal government -funded research enabled discovery, Burns said.
“When we initially built our model and made our predictions in December 2024, none of us knew that the signal was already in the data. And none of us could imagine that our theoretical models would fit the data so well. It was a very exciting parties for all of us,” Patel said. “It’s really cool to think that part of the material on my phone or laptop has been forged in this extreme explosion throughout the history of our galaxy.”
Dr. Eleonora Troja, an associate professor at the University of Rome who led the discovery of X -ray emitted by the neutron stars collision in 2017, said the evidence of the creation of heavy elements of the Magnetar event “is by no means comparable to the evidence collected in 2017.” Troja did not participate in the new study.
“Gold production from this magnetar is a possible explanation for its gamma ray glow, one of many others, as the article honestly argues at its end,” said Troja. Troja added that Magnetares are “very confusing objects.” Since producing gold can be a complicated process that requires specific conditions, it is possible that magnetres can add wrong ingredients, such as excess electrons, to mixture, resulting in light metals such as zirconium or silver instead of gold or uranium.
“Therefore, I would not go so far to say that a new gold source was discovered,” said Troja. “Instead, what was proposed is an alternative way to your production.”
The researchers believe that giant magnetar explosions could be responsible for up to 10% of the heaviest elements than the Iron on the Milky Way, but a future mission could provide a more accurate estimate, Patel said. NASA’s Complete Spectrometer and Imper (Cosi) mission, which is expected to be launched in 2027, may follow the study’s discoveries. The broad field ray -ray telescope is designed to observe giant magnetar explosions and identify elements created within them. The telescope could help astronomers look for other potential sources of heavy elements throughout the universe, Patel said.
This content was originally published in scientists say they found another Golden Source in Cosmos on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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