CNN
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Astronomers have been trying to determine the cosmic origin of the heaviest elements, such as gold. Now, a new research based on a signal discovered in the archive data of a space mission could point to a possible track: magnetars, or highly magnetized neutron stars.
Scientists believe that the lighter elements, such as hydrogen and helium, and even a small amount of lithium, probably existed at the beginning, after the Big Bang created the universe 13.8 billion years ago.
Then, the explosion stars released heavier elements, such as iron, which joined the newborn stars and the planets. But the distribution of gold, which is heavier than iron, throughout the universe has raised a mystery to astrophysicists.
“It is a fairly fundamental question in terms of the origin of complex subject in the universe,” said Anirudh Patel, principal author of the study published on Tuesday at The Astrophysical Journal Letters and Physical PhD student at the University of Columbia in New York, in a statement. “It is a fun puzzle that has not really been resolved.”
Previously, gold cosmic production had only been linked to collisions of neutron stars.
Astronomers observed a collision between two neutron stars in 2017. The cataclysmic shock released waves in space-time, known as gravitational waves, as well as the light of a burst of gamma ray. The collision, known as Kilonova, also created heavy elements such as gold, platinum and lead. Kilonovas have been compared to “factories” in space.
It is believed that the majority of neutron stars mergers only occurred in the last billions of years, said study co -author Eric Burns, an attached and astrophysical professor at the Louisian State University in Baton Rouge.
However, data from 20 years ago, until now indecipherable, coming from NASA telescopes and the European space agency, suggest that the flares of magnetars that formed much before – during the childhood of the universe – may have provided another way for the creation of gold, Burns said.
The neutron stars are the remains of the stars nuclei that have exploded, and are so dense that a teaspoon of the star material would weigh 1,000 million tons on Earth. Magnetares are a type of extremely bright neutron star with an incredibly powerful magnetic field.
Astronomers are still trying to find out how magnetares are formed exactly, but they theorize that the first magnetars probably appeared just after the first stars, about 200 million years after the beginning of the universe, or about 13.6 billion years ago, Burns said.
Occasionally, magnetars unleash a radiation bonanza due to “star earthquakes.”
On Earth, the earthquakes occur because the molten nucleus of the Earth causes a movement in the planet’s crust and, when sufficient tension accumulates, a volatile movement occurs, that is, the soil trembles under the feet. According to Burns, star earthquakes are similar.
“Neutron stars have a cortex and a superfluous nucleus,” Burns explains in an email. “The movement under the surface accumulates voltage on the surface, which can eventually cause a stellar earthquake. In the magnetars, these star earthquakes produce very short bursts of X -rays. As in the earth, there are periods in which a certain star is particularly active, producing hundreds or thousands of flares in a few weeks Powerful ”.
The researchers found evidence that suggests that a magnétar releases material during a giant flare, but did not have a physical explanation for the ejection of the star’s mass, Patel said.
It is likely that the flares warm and expel the material from the bark at high speed, according to recent investigations of several co -authors of the new study, including Brian Metzger, Patel Advisor, Professor of Physics at the University of Columbia and Scientist Principal Researcher at the Flatiron Institute in New York.
“The hypothesis was that the physical conditions of this explosive mass ejection were promising for the production of heavy elements,” Patel said.
Tracking a stellar signal
The team of researchers was curious to see if there could be a connection between the radiation of the flares of Magnetares and the formation of heavy elements. Scientists sought evidence in visible and ultraviolet wavelengths. But Burns wondered if the flare could also create a trace of gamma rays.
To do this, he analyzed the gamma ray data of the last flare of observed giant Magnetar, which appeared in December 2004 and was captured by the integral mission (by the acronym in English of International Laboratory of Astrophysics of Gamma Rays), already withdrawn. Astronomers had found and characterized the signal, but then they didn’t know how to interpret it, Burns explained.
The prediction of the model proposed by the previous research of Metzger coincided closely with the 2004 data signal. The gamma ray resembled what the team proposed that it would be the creation and distribution of heavy elements in a flare of Magnetar Giant.
The data obtained by the Rossi (High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Image Program Reuven Ramaty) and the Wind satellite, already removed from NASA, also corroborated the team’s findings. The discovery was possible thanks to a long -term financial investigation with federal funds, said Burns.
“When we initially built our model and made our predictions back in December 2024, none of us knew that the signal was already in the data. And none of us could imagine that our theoretical models would adjust so well to the data. They were a very exciting vacation for all of us,” says Patel. “It is very interesting to think about how some of the things of my phone or my laptop were forged in this extreme explosion (throughout the history of our galaxy.”
Dr. Eleonora Troja, associate professor at the University of Rome who directed the discovery of the X -rays issued by the collision of neutron stars in 2017, said that the evidence of the creation of heavy elements of the Magnétar event “is not at all comparable to the evidence collected in 2017”. Troja did not participate in the new study.
“The production of gold from this magnétar is a possible explanation for its brightness of gamma rays, one among many others, as the document discusses honestly at the end,” said Troja.
Troja added that magnetares are “very messy objects.” Since gold production can be a complicated process that requires specific conditions, it is possible that magnetares add too many wrong ingredients, such as excess electrons, which would result in light metals such as zirconium or silver, instead of gold or uranium.
“Therefore, I would not say that a new source of gold has been discovered,” says Troja. “Rather, what has been proposed is an alternative route for its production.”
Researchers believe that Magnetare giant flares could be responsible for up to 10 % of the heaviest elements than iron in the Milky Way, but a future mission could provide a more precise estimate, Patel said.
The Compton Spectrometer and Image (COSI) mission of the NASA, whose launch is scheduled for 2027, could monitor the study’s conclusions. The wide field gamma ray telescope is designed to observe flares of giant magnetars and identify the elements that are created in them. According to Patel, the telescope could help astronomers look for other possible sources of heavy elements in the universe.
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