It is one of the questions left unresolved in the scientific community. For astronomers there is too much gold in the universe, but no one knows exactly where it comes from
There is too much gold in the universescientists say. The problem is that we still haven’t understood where it comes from. We assume that gold is an element, which means that to create it, you have to bind 79 protons and 118 neutrons together to form . This is an intense nuclear fusion reaction. But such intense fusion doesn’t happen frequently enough, at least not in our cosmic vicinity. Well, a study has found that the most commonly theorized origin of gold – collisions between neutron stars – is not enough to explain its abundance in the universe. So where does it come from?
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Neutron stars and supernovas
Collisions between neutron stars produce gold by colliding protons and neutrons in atomic nuclei, and subsequently scattering those heavy nuclei into space. Supernovae cannot explain the large presence of this element in the universe, because stars massive enough to fuse it before dying – which is rare – become black holes when they explode. And, in a normal supernova, the gold is then sucked in.
A mystery still unsolved
Previous studies were right that neutron star collisions release a shower of gold. But those studies did not take into account the rarity of those collisions. It is difficult to accurately estimate how often tiny neutron stars – themselves remnants of ancient supernovae – collide. But it’s certainly not very common: Scientists have seen it happen. Or it’s possible that neutron star collisions produce far more of them than existing models suggest. Either way, astrophysicists still have a lot of work to do before they can explain where all the gold in the universe comes from.
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