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 (lower centre right). The gamma ray burst is the 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 Gamma-ray Burst Optical/Near-infrared Detector (GROND) on the MPG/ESO telescope at La Silla Observatory, Chile.
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Photo credit: © ESO/S. Smartt & T.-W. Chen/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
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Keywords: -, -infrared, -process, 17, , 2017, 21st, 4993, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, august, background, binary, black, burst, century, colliding, collision, detector, eso, galaxy, gamma, gamma-ray, gravitational, gravity, grond, hydra, kilonova, macronova, merged, merger, merging, mpg, neutron, ngc, optical, ray, rays, space, star, stars, supernova, telescope, waves
