A Tale Of Two Neutron Stars: The Birth Of Gold
(Kitco News)- How does one create as much gold that weighs about as muchas the earth?
Simple: bring two neutron stars together.
Last summer, astronomers witnessed a powerful collisionbetween two neutron stars, which saw the creation of precious metals like goldfrom the explosion. Months after reviewing the massive amounts of data gatheredafter the event, scientists now have a better understanding of how preciousmetals were created.
The amount of gold that was created would surprise you.
“We estimate that the collision created about as much goldas the mass of the Earth,” said Professor Andrew Levan of Warwick University,in an interview with the Financial Times. An estimated six billion trilliontonnes of gold could have been formed from one collision, the article said.
In comparison, since the beginning of civilization onlyabout 187,000 tonnes of gold has been mined from the earth, according to datafrom the World Gold Council.
The collision helps to explain not just how gold was createdbut other heavier elements.
Scientists posit that the lightest elements formed by theBig Bang, hydrogen, helium and a little lithium, synthesized inside burningstars to form heavier elements up to iron.
“Since normal stars do not produce enough energy - or enoughneutrons - to push the process beyond iron, astrophysicists need otherexplanations for the existence of gold and other heavy elements,” the articlesaid.
The observation made last summer supplants a popular theoryon the origin of gold held for several decades, which is that supernovae,violent explosions from the death of massive stars, form elements heavier thaniron.
However, scientists now believe that the collision ofneutron stars better explains the origins of precious metals.
“We felt prettystaggered that we had found something that seemed to match the theory so well,”said Prof Levan of Warwick. “We can make enough gold in neutron star collisionsto do away with supernovae as a source.”
Neutron star collisions occur about once every 10,000 yearsin the Milky Way galaxy, according to the research.
The initial explosion sends debris, which contain gold,flying into space at about 300 million kph, about a third the speed of light. Thedebris accumulates in the cosmos in the form of meteorites. These meteorites eventuallyfound their way to Earth’s surface.
“Earth suffered a sustained surface bombardment frommetal-rich asteroids and meteorites up to 4bn years ago, after the core hadformed, bringing most of the gold that we are mining today,” the FinancialTimes said.
By David LinFor Kitco News
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dlin@kitco.comwww.kitco.com Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.