Neutron star crash sparks ‘cosmic COCOON producing gold and platinum’

Scientists at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena have suggested the recently observed merger of neutron stars in August, dubbed GW170817, could hold the key to discovering the birthplace of some of Earth’s heaviest elements.

The lead author of the study, Kunal Mooley, said: “This is the first time a structure like this has been seen.

“There is a whole new population of as-yet-unidentified transient astrophysical events that we need to now start searching for.

“We want to find out what the frequency of such cocoon events is and the dynamics of the chemically enriched material that neutron star mergers have produced over the universe’s history.”

The astrophysicist added that the merging of neutron stars can result in radiation being emitted that launches a cocoon of matter outwards “at 90 percent of the speed of light in the case of GW170817”.

He added that the observation could also be the initiators of cosmic rays.

The unprecedented discovery could prove that neutron stars are the creators of elements found on earth such as gold, platinum and lead.

Lighter elements such as hydrogen and helium are deemed to have originated from the Big Bang – elements up to iron on the periodic table were believed to have originated from the cores of stars.

The recent discovery of gravitational waves and light emitting from the merger was labelled as a “transformation in the way that we’re going to do astronomy” by scientist Richard O’Shaughnessy.

He added: “Superlatives fail. It’s fantastic.”

Mr O’Shaughnessy is a member of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) project – the body that announced the August discovery in October.

Following the initial finding, further observations were conducted that produced the incredible cocoon discovery – this confirmed over 70 years of prior research.

LIGO revealed the fifth gravitational wave detection picked up the signal from its two detectors in Louisiana and Washington state that reportedly lasted for 100 seconds.

LIGO spokesman, David Shoemaker, declared: “It immediately appeared to us the source was likely to be neutron stars, the other coveted source we were hoping to see — and promising the world we would see.”

The gravitational waves launched from the collision were predicted by Albert Einstein in his theory of relativity published in 1916.

Neutron stars are former large stars that are victims of supernova explosions – they typically have a diameter of 12 miles.

Despite the small diameter, the stars are incredibly dense, so much so they almost weight in as much as the sun – a fraction of a neutron star could weigh in as much as a billion tons.

The only known product in the universe heavier than a neutron star is a black hole.