US EditionScientists say they’ve found another source of gold in the cosmos
- Scientists reported on April 29, 2025, that giant flares from magnetars are a previously unknown source of gold and heavy elements in our galaxy.
- This finding arose from analyzing a 2004 flare by magnetar SGR 1806-20, which released more energy than the Sun emits in a million years and was studied with NASA and ESA data.
- Researchers, including lead author Anirudh Patel and co-author Brian Metzger, linked magnetar flares to producing up to 10% of the Milky Way's heavy elements, complementing known neutron star mergers.
- Their calculations indicate that the 2004 flare produced an amount of heavy metals comparable to about one-third the mass of Earth, providing confirmation of a second cosmic origin for these elements beyond neutron star mergers, with significant implications for understanding the early universe.
- The team plans to use future gamma-ray telescopes like NASA's 2027 Compton Spectrometer and Imager to detect more magnetar flares and refine understanding of heavy element formation.
54 Articles
54 Articles
Where does all the gold come from? Scientists discover the real source
For centuries, gold's celestial origins remained one of astronomy's greatest mysteries. Now, a ground-breaking study has pinpointed the violent cosmic events responsible for forging nearly all the gold in our universe—collisions between neutron stars.
Scientists say they've found another source of gold in the cosmos.
By Ashley Strickland, CNN Astronomers have spent decades trying to determine the cosmic origin of heavier elements like gold. Now, new research based on a signal discovered in archival data from a space mission may point to a possible clue: magnetars, or highly magnetized neutron stars. Scientists think lighter elements like hydrogen and helium, and even a small amount of lithium, likely existed early on, after the Big Bang created the universe …
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