NASA Supercomputer Probes Tangled Magnetospheres of Merging Neutron Stars
5 days ago
- #magnetospheres
- #NASA-simulations
- #neutron-stars
- NASA's Pleiades supercomputer simulations explore merging neutron stars' magnetospheres.
- Magnetic fields and plasma around neutron stars become entangled before merging.
- Simulations show potential X-ray and gamma-ray signals detectable by future observatories.
- Neutron star mergers produce gamma-ray bursts, gravitational waves, and heavy elements like gold.
- Neutron stars have extremely strong magnetic fields, up to 10 trillion times stronger than a fridge magnet.
- The emitted light varies in brightness and direction, depending on the observer's perspective.
- Future telescopes could detect pre-merger emissions with early warnings from gravitational wave observatories.
- The highest-energy gamma rays convert to particles, but lower-energy gamma rays and X-rays may escape.