The Lab With Brad

The Lab With Brad


Ep 45: It takes two dead stars to make gold? - The Lab

August 31, 2017

It takes two dead stars to make gold?

In episode 43, we talked about how our universe makes the chemical elements that our world and we are made of through processes like nuclear fusion, and exploding stars. That may not be enough. Elements like platinum gold and uranium might come from the collision of two neutron stars, possibly the only way to have enough neutrons handy.

Here’s a video simulation of two neutron stars colliding to form a black hole.

Watch 2 Neutron Stars Merge

Here’s an article on when such a collision was observed in this, our real world.

Collision of dead stars produced the world's gold