This image may not be used to state or imply the endorsement by NRAO, AUI or NSF of any company or product Observations of neutron star mergers. Illus
This image may not be used to state or imply the endorsement by NRAO, AUI or NSF of any company or product Observations of neutron star mergers. Illustration of two different scenarios for the aftermath of the collision of two neutron stars. At left (in the short gamma-ray burst [SGRB] scenario), a jet of material moving at nearly the speed of light is propelled from the collision site into a sphere of material initially blown out by the resulting explosion. If viewed from an angle away (off-axis) from the center of the jet, the long-term emission of X-rays and radio waves would be getting weaker. At right, the jet cannot punch out of the shell of explosion debris, but instead sweeps up material into a broad 'cocoon', which absorbs the jet's energy and emits X-rays and radio waves over a wider angle. In this case, such emission is still growing in intensity, as now observed with both radio and X-ray telescopes. This neutron star merger, named GW170817, was observed on 17 August 2017 and took place in galaxy NGC 4993, which is 130 million light years from Earth in the constellation of Hydra.
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Photo credit: © D. Berry, NRAO/AUI/NSF/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
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