Colliding neutron stars

This artist's impression shows the collision of two neutrons stars. A neutron star is the collapsed core of a large star which had a total of between 10 and 29 solar masses before the collapse. Neutron stars are the smallest and densest stars known to exist. The collision of two extremely compact neutron stars produces a bright, energetic gamma-ray burst lasting just a fraction of a second.

Herkunftsnachweis:

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

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