A One-in-Ten-Billion Binary Star System – First Kilonova Progenitor System Identified
This is an artist’s impression of the first confirmed detection of a star system that will one day form a kilonova — the ultra-powerful, gold-producing explosion created by merging neutron stars. These systems are so phenomenally rare that only about 10 such systems are thought to exist in the entire Milky Way. Credit: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva/Spaceengine/M. ZamaniAstronomers using the SMARTS 1.5-meter Telescope uncover a one-in-ten-billion binary star system.Astronomers using the SMARTS 1.5-meter Telescope at…