One Au-some Explosion: Two-Tenths of a Second that Rocked the Universe

One Au-some Explosion: Two-Tenths of a Second That Rocked the Universe Yellow precious metal GOLD AU Gold has a rare odd-numbered atom with 79 protons Element Symbol I Nature prefers even numbered atoms for stability Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics found new evidence that gold comes from the collision of 2 neutron stars June 3, 2013 - NASA's Swift satellite observed a gamma-ray burst 3.9 billion light years away in constellation Leo Burst lasted two-tenths 0.2 of a second After the gamma ray burst they observed a radioactive afterglow from a huge quantity of heavy metals formed in the explosion It is believed that one of the materials flung out included gold This is rare and likely to happen every 100,000 years in the Milky Way galaxy Two neutron stars can orbit each other for a billion years drifting closer and closer until they smash violently Estimated that the amount of gold produced and ejected during the merger may be about 20 Earth-masses worth of gold Enough to fill 100 trillion oil tankers = 10 trillion This gold from space became part of the formation of earth and the rest of the solar system including the sun Earth formed 4.54 billion years ago, the Universe was already 9.23 billion years old plenty of time for gold to make its way around the universe and onto your finger! Source: www.cnn.com I www.forbes.com I www.washingtonpost.com I www.sciencenews.org Brought to you by: In partnership with: TOP DOLLAR PAWN & JEWELRY GHERGICH&Co.