Neutron Star Merger

A neutron star merger occurs when two incredibly dense remnants of collapsed stars orbit each other and eventually collide. Neutron stars contain matter packed so tightly that a sugar-cube-sized amount weighs about a billion tons. As they spiral inward due to gravitational waves, the collision releases massive energy, producing a burst of gravitational waves and electromagnetic signals like gamma-ray bursts and kilonovae. These mergers are key sites for creating heavy elements such as gold and platinum, and they help scientists study extreme physics, shedding light on the behavior of matter under the most intense conditions in the universe.