Astronomers Just Found The Ancient Cosmic Event That Gave Earth Gold And Platinum

A violent collision between two neutron stars 4.6 billion years ago showered the as-yet-unformed Solar System with heavy elements, new research has found.

more…

Tau.Neutrino said:

Astronomers Just Found The Ancient Cosmic Event That Gave Earth Gold And Platinum

A violent collision between two neutron stars 4.6 billion years ago showered the as-yet-unformed Solar System with heavy elements, new research has found.

more…

Its’s been known for yonks that neutron stars don’t merge often enough to be significant.

“ As much as 0.3 percent of Earth’s gold, platinum and uranium (along with other heavy elements) could have been forged in the fire of a merger 1,000 light-years away, when the Solar System was little more than a cloud of gas and dust. “

They don’t have much to say about where the other 99.7 percent came from.

party_pants said:

“ As much as 0.3 percent of Earth’s gold, platinum and uranium (along with other heavy elements) could have been forged in the fire of a merger 1,000 light-years away, when the Solar System was little more than a cloud of gas and dust. “

They don’t have much to say about where the other 99.7 percent came from.

Some kind of conspiracy?

dv said:

party_pants said:

“ As much as 0.3 percent of Earth’s gold, platinum and uranium (along with other heavy elements) could have been forged in the fire of a merger 1,000 light-years away, when the Solar System was little more than a cloud of gas and dust. “

They don’t have much to say about where the other 99.7 percent came from.

Some kind of conspiracy?

Not going that far.

Just a bit of a let-down reading the article after seeing the headline. Was expecting something a bit more major.

party_pants said:

dv said:

party_pants said:

“ As much as 0.3 percent of Earth’s gold, platinum and uranium (along with other heavy elements) could have been forged in the fire of a merger 1,000 light-years away, when the Solar System was little more than a cloud of gas and dust. “

They don’t have much to say about where the other 99.7 percent came from.

Some kind of conspiracy?

Not going that far.

Just a bit of a let-down reading the article after seeing the headline. Was expecting something a bit more major.

Ah, that makes more sense. Less than 0.3%. I could probably put a better upper limit on that.

> This event, their research found, sprayed elements out into the surrounding space, contributing 70 percent of the early Solar System’s curium, and 40 percent of its plutonium. Because of radioactive decay, there is much less of it now, 4.6 billion years later.

> And it couldn’t have been a supernova, they found – they occur far too often, putting the actinide abundances they would produce beyond the constraints defined by the meteorites.

In other words, still nobody has the slightest clue. I can live with that.