kilonova
Sign in to saveAlso known as knova, macronova, r-process supernova, KN, kilonovae, KNe
thumb|upright=1.4|Artist's impression of neutron stars merging, producing gravitational waves and resulting in a kilonova
~6 min read
Encyclopedic overview
6 sectionsContents
- History
- Theory
- Observations
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|upright=1.4|Artist's impression of neutron stars merging, producing gravitational waves and resulting in a kilonova
A kilonova (also called a macronova) is a transient astronomical event that occurs in a compact binary system when two neutron stars (BNS) or a neutron star and a black hole collide. The kilonova, visible over the weeks and months following the merger, is an isotropically expanding luminous afterglow of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized by—and then ejected from—the initial cataclysmic event.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “kilonova” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.