Gravitational waves and emitted light reveal merger of two neutron stars – and a kilonova

Research report (imported) 2017 - Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics

Authors
Anders Jerkstrand, Hans-Thomas Janka
Departments
Max-Planck-Institut für Astrophysik, Garching
Summary
On 17 August 2017, two merging neutron stars were seen for the first time by their gravitational wave si  gnal as well as high-energy gamma radiation. Follow-up observations revealed optical emission powered by the radioactive decay of r-process elements - a so-called kilonova.

For the full text, see the German version.

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