Neutron Star Merger Simulation with Gamma-ray Observations

This animation follows the gravitational wave and density changes in a simulated neutron star merger and compares them to measurements of a short gamma-ray burst observed by NASA's Compton mission on July 11, 1991. Dark purple colors represent the lowest-density material, while yellow-white shows the highest. An audible tone and a visual frequency scale (at left) track the steady rise in the frequency of gravitational waves as the neutron stars close. When the objects merge at 19 seconds, the gravitational waves suddenly jump to frequencies of thousands of hertz and bounce between two primary tones. A magenta line appears at left to illustrate how quasiperiodic oscillations (QPOs) found in the gamma-ray emission correlate to those of the simulated gravitational waves. At the same time, a graph at upper right traces the changes in gamma-ray brightness observed during the same burst. To symbolize the ultimate formation of a black hole, a dot has been added at the center.
Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and STAG Research Centre/Peter Hammond
Scott Wiessinger (KBRwyle) - Lead Producer
Francis Reddy (University of Maryland College Park) - Lead Science Writer
Cecilia Chirenti (University of Maryland, College Park) - Scientist
This video can be freely shared and downloaded at svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14209. While the video in its entirety can be shared without permission, the music and some individual imagery may have been obtained through permission and may not be excised or remixed in other products. Specific details on such imagery may be found here: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14209. For more information on NASA’s media guidelines, visit nasa.gov/multimedia/guidelines.

[@DooMGuy1993]

It's scary how the black hole just suddenly appears right after the merger.

[@cenanmehmet]

nah you didn't get it,neutron stars are the closest things to black holes,if they get enough mass+gravity they all gonna be a black hole,they are basically failed black holes with some extra characteristics

[@Noomagenial]

@@cenanmehmet wait so black holes form that fast? I thought it was a gradual thing they just go "pop" in existance?

[@cenanmehmet]

@@Noomagenial finding neutron star merger is the hard thing, neutron stars are rare and they need to merge for made bigger neutron star or black hole,it's about mass+gravity

[@GameristicForce]

@@Noomagenialthey don’t just “pop!” Into existance. Black holes aren’t an object, they are the absence of an object, that being light. So, once light can no longer escape, there is no light… escaping into our eyes, and therefore blackness, so it’s a black hole.

[@donnymcjonny6531]

@@Noomagenial Every object has its own gravity, and thus, a velocity required to escape the surface. For reference, rockets need to go 11.2 km/s to escape Earth's gravity. More massive objects have higher v_esc. When an object is dense enough, the velocity required to leave the surface reaches the speed of light. At this point, it does just "Pop" into existence because there's a finite line between "v_esc < speed of light" and "v_esc > speed of light." This point is known as the Schwarzschild radius R_s, and every object has a radius at which it's dense enough to become a black hole. For example, Earth's R_s is about the size of a golf ball. If it were a golf ball + 0.000000000000001 nm, it would not be a black hole, but the instant it reaches that point, it becomes a black hole. Like the other guy said, the region we see is not exactly the object itself, it's the boundary at which light can no longer escape the gravity. This is known as the Event Horizon. The actual object is thought to be within.

[@Mr_Battlefield]

To a Galaxy far far away. RIP.

[@tygical]

huh

[@kajetanl6585]

even a single neutron star is a certain death for every object in it's proximity if it didn't evaporated during death of 'standard' star which is called a supernova. An event of star explosion which may form either neutron star or a black hole. Imagine the energy released as one n-star would impact the another @@tygical

[@tygical]

@@kajetanl6585 i recommend you do more research on this. neutron stars have more than one way of forming. black holes also have more than one way of forming. there are actually stars that orbit non-supermassive black holes, and aren't inside of a nebula.

[@FALL_OF_LEGEND]

​The gamma ray bursts are the second largest explosions since the bigbang, so the energy radiated would destroy nearby objects ​@@tygical

[@nekomasteryoutube3232]

While the gamma ray burst will be significant, it'll help produce the heavy elements we have like gold and lead and uranium. Stars can only fuse so much, but its when stuff gets crazy that we get the heavy elements.

[@user-VKL34674]

0:19 what problems sounds

[@DonnyJohnGotThePass]

the thing is sleeping

[@failed_astrophysicist]

Fantastic video

[@FutureAIDev2015]

It's interesting how right at the end of the merger the sound appears to overshoot and oscillate around that highest pitch for a while.

[@muna.ali20]

Wow, turned into a black hole without exploding as a supernova!♥️

[@ViosgamingRBbro]

It kilo-nova, not super-nova, super-nova is from a 1 star that not the neutron star (including magnet star and pulsar) explode, kilo-nova is the explode of two neutron star collide to a black hole, also super-nova can also create black hole if the star is a supergiant

[@brunaskarting116]

Depends on how mass is lost during the collision. If the mass of the remnant is below the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff limit, it won’t collapse into a black hole - it will end up as a much more massive neutron star.

[@cooliobaldi]

No guys its Gamma ray its the sec biggest exploxion it will destroy near planets

[@aiden-hp4uf]

​@@cooliobaldiok coolio golden freddy

[@georgezayas492]

i agree on the kilo-nova

[@JehovahsaysNetworth]

Play it back in slow motion and listen for the sound of two large magnets trying to merge into one larger magnet.

[@gththcoc6010]

beautiful animation

[@corrinastanley125]

Thanks NASA, that's really interesting.

[@immagical7036]

Why does this comment sound sarcastic in my head D:

[@corrinastanley125]

@@immagical7036 I did think it was cool. But our head voice always puts a sarcastic spin on things and I understand that too.

[@immagical7036]

@@corrinastanley125 thank you for understanding ;w;

[@GAND-OZZ]

@@immagical7036it’s because of how uncaring the world has become to the point where regular or interested comments are seen as a sarcastic insult.

[@immagical7036]

@@GAND-OZZ good point It’s unfortunate how much we’ve come to expect that sort of thing

[@disectormusic]

thanks

[@PIO793]

👍👍👍 so cool

[@markbass_trojanthinking]

I was going to say I heard something that before but….. remembering those who require …..👍🏾👍

[@LatishLynx]

Holy cow.

[@VolkT1]

Amazing simulation, hope someday i can work for you guys!

[@IluminousOne-9.7.2]

As cleaner

[@VolkT1]

sure buddy, ill still work at nasa and you'll be working your average 9-5 ​@@IluminousOne-9.7.2

[@IluminousOne-9.7.2]

@@VolkT1 *emotional damage*

[@oseasdefabulafabula607]

Cool

[@themessage7605]

It’s crazy how it’s not in seconds or minutes it’s in milliseconds. I could move my hand faster than that could make me turn into beef stew.

[@quantumblur_3145]

Tea's ready

[@wobmaster2]

it's scary that things like these happen in only a couple hundred milliseconds

[@david_playz2701]

It became a blackhole. The reason is that its mass exceeded the limit of the Tolman Oppenheimer-Volkoff limit.

[@SI-Porun_369]

WoW,,, 😮😮😮. From Bangladesh 🇧🇩 🇧🇩 🇧🇩 🇧🇩 💝💝

[@Sunblade02]

I had my volume to 100%...

[@lukeh3201]

Cool! Thanks NASA!

[@LaBrujuladeIan]

Se parecen dos agujeros negros fusionándose y que bonito se be 😢🎉

[@AlexLoveTvs]

0:25 and the black hole ends up consuming the sound

[@demsharpboys7437]

Sounds like a hearing test

[@ghillartin1221]

Yuwh!

[@Roronoa_zoroo_666]

That sound is creepy 🥶🥶🥶

[@MincraftGeoffers]

I hear ringing in my ear

[@Noahnbm035]

Is somebody slamming a chicken against the wall? 0:21

[@Hkdmg]

That oooooooooooOOoooOOoOOOAOWAOOSWOAW

[@MrJLCharbonneau]

Some astrophysicist with a slide whistle just laughing his ass off rn.🤣

[@joseospina7557]

Two chandrasekhar masses merging to overpass the Tolman Oppenheimer Volkoff limit

[@jhtrq1465]

Neutrons stars can form below the Chandrasekhar limit, this limit is for white dwarves. The lowest mass neutrons stars range in the 1.1-1.2 solar masses, so you can have neutron stars lighter than white dwarves.

[@Aaron487]

I played this at full headphone volume 💀💀💀

[@lucianobernardodiasbernard5942]

Ok!

[@AlexBenfica]

This is Auralux IRL!

[@hingsunhome]

You play auralux!?

[@immagical7036]

They whistled

[@alxciu]

looks like drilling a hole in something

[@freshoranges27]

It is. It drills a hole into the fabric of space time. This "hole" is what we call a singularity.

[@fitnesspoint2006]

Would some neutron mergers create a blackhole?

[@iflyplanesthrutunnels]

why am I watching this at 12:49 AM

[@Anti-Italian19138]

Kilonova be like:

[@almostcompletelyrandomcontent]

only in a few milliseconds

[@GATOSANDIA_SUCRIBETE]

The sound is better 😂

[@Toasted_butBoscoGamingYT]

It become a galaxy 💀

[@Zequalsspace]

put it at lowest speed then its kinda realistic

[@James-jf3kr]

When you get 1/100 trillion in sols rng:

[@junkilscramjunkil1997]

2 galaxy full fighting = BLACK HOLE

[@DHRIORWR195]

Bird sound 0:19

[@rootbeerproductions9863]

Car alarm

[@apnachannel4419]

This doesn't make any sense how did those slow down when they came close

[@quantumcat7673]

To any Aliens that have the technology to tap on the Earth www, live long and prosper. - Spock

[@Charlierae7411]

I love NASA one day I will be a astronaut

[@Divinevioletflame]

orgazmic

[@KevinTheKoffee]

Nasa 100,000,000/10

[@NotHardyToonz]

Weird sound

[@uncolorr]

thats 2 seconds?

[@jhtrq1465]

0.2 sec, roughly

[@LobotomyFIREINTHEHOLEGD]

Bro said:🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦🐦 0:20

[@Nowanic]

Dam a mega newton star can’t last a minute

[@tygical]

neutron* and this is not realtime

[@windowxp1946]

zip sound

[@kimienick6721]

💫💫🌌

[@itsmers]

is this simulated data? Or simulated from real observable data

[@Karlswebb]

Simulated using state of the art physics. It simulates EXACTLY the complicated equations of general relativity which tell you how space-time is bent by mass/energy, that part has really no source of potential error/inaccuracy. We know how spacetime works; every test of GR we've come up with has passed with insane accuracy. Now the neutron stars themselves are where the source of error in the simulation come from. We don't know exactly the "equation of state" of neutron stars; the equations which relate the PRESSURE of the neutron matter in a neutron star to local properties of that matter (density, temperature, derivative of the density, derivatives of the temperature/density, etc). What we do instead is approximate the true equation of state by one that reproduces in simulations EVERYTHING we know about a neutron star (we find ones that, when we simulate them, give us the upper bound on the mass of a neutron star that we observe in reality, that give us the radius we see in reality, that give us the properties we see in reality in general). We can also use physics like effective field theories to use mathematical symmetries that we know neutrons/their components (quarks and gluons) obey to determine the equation of state from simulations. This is very difficult. We have pretty accurate equations of state now for neutron stars though, at least we think we do (state of the art ones reproduce the radius-mass relationship, the temperature that we observe, magnetars, pulsars, the maximum mass a neutron star can have before it collapses to a black hole, etc). If our equation of state is wrong (we still have no clue what the core of the neutron star is made of, could be a quark gluon color superconducting liquid where the color charge that binds quarks into protons and neutrons is conducted freely instead of being cancelled out/confined into nucleons like the proton) then the results of the simulation will be wrong to some degree, though the gravitational wave signature doesn't depend strongly on the equation of state. The actual physical charateristics of the collision depend strongly on the equation of state though. We probably have it wrong, as the only merger of two we ever witnessed was spherical, not donut shaped like we thought.

[@lucianobernardodiasbernard5942]

Estado Ceará No País Brasil!

[@carlmagrath6389]

When I'm looking at the video, what speed are they doing? How do Neutron stars merge if they are a solid mass? Is the mass liquid? Looking at the Universe photo's, what is the point of knowing since we are just a microbe in space in one of the billions of galaxies and there is no way NASA can fly the speed of light, seems a waste of time considering dinosaurs have been on Earth for billions of yrs and yet Man has only been here for a few thousand yrs, not even close to apples & oranges

[@tryste_mx]

The masses are likely quite fluid, most likely gas and plasma, but not liquid. In the process there are likely extremely high pressures and temperatures which determine how they merge. They're moving about as fast as you can see here, as the simulation shows the real time in milliseconds in the lower right. Simulating how black holes are created is an important step in determine the nature of dark matter, which is invisible and undetectable but makes up a majority of the mass in the universe. As for humans (great ape primates), they evolved around 2 million years ago (Homo habilis). Modern day humans (Homo sapiens) evolved from the Homo erectus subspecies and appeared in Africa 200 to 300 thousand years ago. Homo neanderthalensis appeared around the same time in Europe and Western Asia, but went extinct about 40,000 years ago.

[@nathanaelvetters2684]

They're not any state if matter you've ever seen. It's literally just a ball of neutrons, which is such an exotic form of matter it's hard to even think about. Matter you're used to and made of is held in place by electrostatic forces, but in neutron stars gravity has overcome that so all the nuclei just merged together, eliminating the ~99.99% empty space in most matter and becoming so dense it's not even funny. They are more massive than our Sun but less than the size of a large city. When they merge, even the neutron degeneracy pressure collapses and there's nothing left to oppose gravity, and the combination collapses into a black hole, but not before ejecting quite a bit of material and creating a lot of large elements. Heavier metals are thought to mostly originate from this process (the R-process). It's hard to see the benefits of astrophysics to everyday life, but it gives us better fundamental understanding of the universe, which I believe is already a worthy end unto itself but it can also lead to discoveries in physics that allow us to do new things on Earth. Relativity was discovered by looking up, and now it's an essential part of the calculations GPS receivers do. Quantum physics once seemed useless and theoretical, and now we exploit it all the time in our computer processors. Also discovered by looking up.

[@Karlswebb]

@@tryste_mx They are definitely not a fluid. Neutron degenerate matter is a solid with a very odd equation of state that is stupidly complicated. They are torn apart by the hilariously high tidal forces. If you were even close to the surface of one of these you would instantly be torn into spaghetti strands. Even 1000 km's away from one of these (they are 10 km's in radius) you would feel 50g's of force stretching you (if you are 1.5 meters tall). At a distance of 50 km's, these two 9km neutron stars would experience 4 billion g's of force trying to rip them apart (when measured from closest side to farthest side, 4 billion g's of tension is being applied trying to pull the part closest to their center of mass even closer). And they still don't break then, not even close. It's not until they're like only 5-10 km's apart that they start breaking apart. Takes a truly obscene amount of force.

[@jhtrq1465]

@@Karlswebb The surface of neutron stars is definitely a solid, but are you sure about the rest? I remember reading that the interior was supposed to be in a superfluid state, that could explain the glitches and straquakes that happen on NS.

[@jimbojones101]

Lmfao.

[@krzysiek_815]

Ale żenada.

[@Sovietisam]

The noise:aaaahahahaaaahhaaaaaaaa wew wo wew woe we woe

[@sherrieclark9073]

So as far as I can see a black hole looks like a balloon cuz in a balloon there is energy that spins and on the outside is stadik? Electricity when I look straight at the black hole and with all that is going on around the balloon then you will start to see protocols moving around then they start to look like it is slowing down ya it looks like the planits that goes around the back hole as they move in closer yep 😎... just a thought 🤔🤔💭😎

[@Karlswebb]

My friend none of that made sense. What are you even saying? This was a SUPERCOMPUTER SIMULATION using KNOWN LAWS OF PHYSICS TO SIMULATE THINGS EXACTLY.

[@jhtrq1465]

Your brain just farted.

[@dylanboekelman1471]

AI's closed caption of this video: Rising tone, Tone rises faster and reaches peak of volume and frequency, Tone bounces between two freqencies, Tone fades out to silence. I have no speakers. I simulated the sound in my mind along with the description of 'dark purple colours represent the lowest-density material'. I now am one with Source.

[@joegonzalez6241]

so this isn't real because i wanted to ask how long it stood open. in order for this to be real . you would have to have it all figured out or the simulation is just fantasy

[@KennyT187]

If you look at the measured brightness and gamma-ray data, the simulation reproduces the graphs quite accurately. So it's a pretty damn good simulation of the actual GRB event.

[@tryste_mx]

@joe gonzalez what

[@user-pv8jf4wv7v]

kn

[@Kashi-K]

funny noise

[@lucianobernardodiasbernard5942]

🌎🌏🌅🌌

[@FAFSAOFFICIAL]

Kappa

[@falkanat]

Iam i the only one who thinks that ending sound was funny af 😂😂😂

[@Leozinmm2]

PAC Man

[@thetightties]

Nasa i wanna create a space station like you but better than SpaceX better than Nasa

[@KaueZX19191]

I put my head to tv boi and to see naza

[@LayniPalma]

amomavali toni amaghlebuli toni t'onusis ats'eva t'oni izrdeba upro sts'rapad da aghts'evs motsulobisa da sikhshiris p'ik's t'oni brundeba or sikhshires shoris

[@user-ck6rd3ey1w]

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuiuiuiuiuiu