A New "Golden" Age of Astronomy.

• Author: Mbuqe, Ellen James

Syracuse (N.Y.) University physicists are among a global team of scientists that made a revolutionary discovery confirming the origins of gold and other heavy metals whose presence in the universe has been a long-standing mystery. Just days before last summer's total solar eclipse would mesmerize the country, scientists witnessed the telltale celestial event: the gravitational waves from the collision of two massive neutron stars in deep space--and the resulting afterglow that signified the process of gold being created from the cosmic smashup.

The transformative discovery marks the first detection of colliding neutron stars by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Observatory (LIGO) and the Virgo gravitational-wave detectors. Even more remarkable, it was the first time scientists were able to see the light from the collision with powerful telescopes that probe the farthest reaches of the universe.

This is the second once-in-a-lifetime discovery to rock the astrophysics world in two years, and it not only confirms the origins of one of Earth's most-precious metals, it opens a whole new window through which to probe the secrets of the universe.

"I would say that this probably will have a bigger scientific impact than that first detection of gravitational waves," says Duncan Brown, professor of physics and a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration. 'The first detection in 2015 opened the new field of gravitational-wave astronomy, but this detection answers many more questions about the universe."

The breakthrough is credited to the unprecedented detection power of the two Advanced LIGO detectors, one located in Hanford, Wash., and the other in Livingston, La., combined with that of a third detector, the French-Italian Virgo, located in Italy. The images from the Aug. 17, 2017, event--two neutron stars colliding at one-third the speed of light--tell the story.

'The gravitational waves told us that these were two neutron stars colliding," Brown explains. 'They also told us where to point telescopes to see the aftermath of the collision. With telescopes, we can watch the fireworks in electromagnetic waves and see neutron-rich material being thrown off and radioactively decaying. When you watch that radioactive decay, what you're basically watching is space alchemy. It's the universe creating gold and platinum."

The observation settles a riddle that has puzzled scientists for more than 60 years: where do gold, platinum, uranium, and other...