A black hole is capable of tearing apart a Neutron star within 2 seconds. Here’s what a new study revealed.
What if a giant black hole and the deadly neutron star come in each other’s way? It will certainly lead to a magnificent display of light and it will produce gravitational waves! Almost seven years ago, these gravitational waves were detected for the first time. Since then, a total of 90 signals have been observed that were created by binary systems of two black holes, two neutron stars, or one of each. Now, a study has demonstrated that the meeting of a black hole and neutron star will lead to the swift killing of the latter.
The study was conducted by Kota Hayashi, a researcher with Kyoto University and his team in collaboration with Toho University in Japan and the Albert Einstein Institute, which used data collected from the three black hole-neutron star mergers and completed the process of the collision. The end results showed that during the merger process, a Black Hole can tear apart the neutron star in just a matter of seconds! During the process, almost 80 percent of the matter of the neutron star was swallowed by the black hole, which increased the mass of the black hole by an additional solar mass.
How a neutron star is killed by a Black hole
Later, the study observed that in a few milliseconds, the neutron star formed a one-armed spiral structure and an accretion disk around the black hole. The accretion disk fell into the black hole, which ejected a jet-like stream of electromagnetic radiation and matter.
“We get insights into a process that lasts one to two seconds – that sounds short, but in fact a lot happens during that time: from the final orbits and the disruption of the neutron star by the tidal forces, the ejection of matter, to the formation of an accretion disk around the nascent black hole, and further ejection of matter in a jet,” co-author Masaru Shibata explained. She further added that the release of high-energy jets is also a reason behind the burst of short gamma-rays, whose origin is still mysterious. This also indicated that ejected matter should create heavy elements such as gold and platinum
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