Colliding Neutron Stars, Gravity Waves, and the Origin of the Heavy Elements Artwork

Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures

Listen to exciting, non-technical talks on some of the most interesting developments in astronomy and space science. Founded in 1999, the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures are presented on six Wednesday evenings during each school year at Foothill College, in the heart of California's Silicon Valley. Speakers include a wide range of noted scientists, explaining astronomical developments in everyday language. The series is organized and moderated by Foothill's astronomy instructor emeritus Andrew Fraknoi and jointly sponsored by the Foothill College Physical Science, Math, and Engineering Division, the SETI Institute, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and the University of California Observatories (including the Lick Observatory.)

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Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures

Colliding Neutron Stars, Gravity Waves, and the Origin of the Heavy Elements

August 22, 2022 • Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures • Season 18 • Episode 3

with Prof. Eliot Quataert (University of California, Berkeley)

In the previous decade, one third of the world's astronomers became involved in a single project -- observing a distant and violent event, when two "star corpses" called neutron stars collided and exploded. This represented the first time in the history of astronomy that a cosmic event was observed with both gravity waves (first predicted by Einstein) and light. We now call this event the birth of "multi-messenger astronomy." Dr. Quataert gives a non-technical history of how we are now able to find gravity waves, what happens during such a merger, and why we now believe that much of the gold, platinum, uranium and other heavy elements in the universe is assembled in such "star corpse" mergers. Recorded Jan. 24, 2018.