Star Quakes and Monster Shock Waves

Summary

Like the simulation depicting how a neutron star cracks, this one also predicts the characteristics of the resulting flares astronomers might see through telescopes. In the fleeting moments when monster shock waves rip outward and a black hole pulsar forms, telescopes may be able to catch outbursts of radio waves or a combination of X-rays and gamma rays. In short, the simulations performed by Most and colleagues provide a deeper understanding of the physics driving some of the most energetic events in the universe.Undulating Space and TimeWhen two black holes collide, they generate not only shock waves and flares of light but also another type of radiation known as gravitational waves. These ripples in the fabric of space and time itself were first predicted more than 100 years ago by Albert Einstein. The Caltech- and MIT-led LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory), which is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), famously made the first direct detection of gravitational waves, generated from the coalescence of two black holes, in 2015. The achievement would later earn three of the collaboration's leading teammates the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics.In 2017, LIGO and Virgo, its European sister observatory, observed a different kind of collision: that between two neutron stars. The fiery explosion, called a kilonova, unleashed a spray of metals, including the element gold. That event emitted both gravitational waves and light. LIGO–Virgo first caught the blast in gravitational waves and then notified astronomers around the world who followed up with telescopes in space and on the ground to detect a broad range of electromagnetic, or light, wavelengths, ranging from high-energy gamma rays to low-energy radio waves.Whether a neutron star–black hole collision would also produce a similar light show is not clear, but so far none have been seen. Still, it is possible that the neutron star–black hole mergers, even if they fail to produce a cloud o...