Ep 45: It takes two dead stars to make gold?
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It takes two dead stars to make gold?
In episode 43, we talked about how our universe makes the chemical elements that our world and we are made of through processes like nuclear fusion, and exploding stars. That may not be enough. Elements like platinum gold and uranium might come from the collision of two neutron stars, possibly the only way to have enough neutrons handy.
Here’s a video simulation of two neutron stars colliding to form a black hole.
Here’s an article on when such a collision was observed in this, our real world.