This image may not be used by or to promote the arms, nuclear power or tobacco industries or any religious organisation, or in any discriminatory way,
This image may not be used by or to promote the arms, nuclear power or tobacco industries or any religious organisation, or in any discriminatory way, or to imply the endorsement by ESO of any product, service or activity Gamma ray burst from two colliding neutron stars in galaxy NGC 4993. Spiralling red gas is seen emitting from the centre of the galaxy. The gamma ray burst is the blue light at the 11 o'clock position in the galaxy. This is the first time that the aftermath of such a collision, known as a kilonova, has been witnessed. Kilonova are thought to be the origin for all elements heavier than iron in the universe. This merger also produced gravitational waves and gamma rays, both of which were detected by LIGO-Virgo and Fermi/INTEGRAL detectors respectively on the 17th August 2017. Galaxy NGC 4993 is about 130 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Hydra. Image obtained by the MUSE instrument on the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope at the Paranal Observatory, Chile.
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Photo credit: © ESO/J.D. Lyman, A.J. Levan, N.R. Tanvir/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
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Keywords: -, -process, 17, 2017, 21st, 4993, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, august, background, binary, black, burst, century, colliding, collision, galaxy, gamma, gravitational, gravity, hydra, kilonova, large, macronova, merged, merger, merging, muse, neutron, ngc, ray, rays, space, star, stars, supernova, telescope, vlt, waves
