Since the Big Bang, the early universes have had very few hydrogen, helium and lithium. Later, some heavier elements (including iron) were faked into stars. But one of the biggest mysteries in astrophysics is: How heavy is the first element produced and distributed over the universe than iron, such as gold?

"It's a very basic question in terms of the origins of complex matter in the universe," said Anirudh Patel, a doctoral student at Columbia University in New York. "It's an interesting puzzle that is actually unsolved."

Patel conducted a study using 20-year-old archival data from NASA and ESA telescopes that found evidence from a surprising source of heavy elements: flares from highly magnetized neutron stars called Magnetars. The study was published in the Astrophysics Journal letter.

The study authors estimate that magnetic giant flares may contribute 10% of the total abundance of elements heavier than iron in the Milky Way. Since magnets existed relatively early in the history of the universe, the first gold that could have been done so.

"This is answering a question of this century and solving a mystery using nearly forgotten archival data," said Eric Burns, a study co-author and astrophysicist.

Neutron stars are the collapsed cores of an exploded star. They are so dense that a teaspoon of neutron star material (on Earth) weighs a billion tons. Magnets are neutron stars with extremely powerful magnetic fields.

In rare cases, magnets release a lot of high-energy radiation when “Starquakes” occur, just like earthquakes, where the shell of a neutron star is broken. The asterisk may also be associated with powerful radiation bursts called Magnet giant flares and may even affect Earth's atmosphere. Only three giant magnet flares were observed in the Milky Way and nearby barley clouds, seven outside.

Patel and colleagues, including his consultant Brian Metzger, a Columbia University professor and senior research scientist at the Flatiron Institute in New York, have been thinking about how the radiation of giant flares corresponds to the heavy elements formed there. This will be done by forging the "rapid process" of neutrons into a "rapid process" of heavier neutrons.

Protons define the identity of elements on the periodic table: hydrogen has one proton, helium has two, lithium has three, and so on. Atoms also have neutrons that do not affect identity, but they do increase mass. Sometimes, when atoms capture additional neutrons, the atoms become unstable and a nuclear decay process occurs, converting neutrons into protons, moving the atoms onto the periodic table of elements. For example, this is how gold atoms can use extra neutrons and then turn into mercury.

In a unique environment of a destroyed neutron star, the density of neutrons is extremely high, and even strangers occur: a single atom can quickly capture so many neutrons that it undergoes multiple decays, resulting in the production of heavier elements like uranium.

When astronomers used NASA telescopes and the Laser Interferon Gravitational Wave Observation Station (Ligo) to observe that two neutron stars collided in 2017, many telescopes were conducted on the ground and in the initially discovered space, they confirmed that the event could have caused gold, Platinum and other heavy yen. But neutron stars merged too late in the history of the universe to explain the earliest gold and other heavy elements. The latest research by co-authors of the new study – Jakub Cehula of Charles University in Prague, Todd Thompson and Metzger of Ohio State University – found that magnet flares can heat and pop neutron star shell materials at high speeds, making them a potential source.

At first, Metzger and colleagues believed that the signatures of the creation and distribution of heavy elements on disk would appear in visible and ultraviolet light, and published their predictions. But Louisiana's burns wonder if there is also a bright enough gamma-ray signal that can also be detected. He asked Metzger and Patel to check it out and they found that there might be such a signature.

"At some point, we said, 'Okay, we should ask the observer if he's seen anything.'

Burns looked up gamma-ray data from the last giant flare observed in December 2004. He realized that while scientists have explained the beginning of the outbreak, they also found data from the ESA (European Space Agency) data from the International Gamma-Ray Shooting Astronomy Laboratory (Integration), an recently retired mission. "It was pointed out at the time, but no one was thinking about what it might be," Burns said.

Metzger remembers Burns thinking he and Patel were “pulling their legs” because the predictions of their team model are very close to the mysterious signals in the 2004 data. In other words, the gamma-ray signal detected 20 years ago corresponds to the appearance of how heavy elements are produced and then distributed in magnetic giant flares.

Patel was very excited: "I didn't think about anything for the next week or two. That's my only thought," he said.

The researchers used data from the NASA Heliophyssis mission to support their conclusions: the retired Rhessi (Reuven Ramaty high-energy solar spectroscopy imager) and the ongoing NASA's NASA wind satellite, which also observed the Magnetar Giant Flare. Other collaborators on the new study include Jared Goldberg of the Flatiron Institute.

NASA's upcoming COSI (Compton Spectrometer and Imager) mission can follow up on these results. COSI is expected to launch a wide gamma-ray telescope in 2027 and will study energy phenomena in the universe, such as magnetic giant flares. COSI will be able to identify individual elements created in these events, providing new advances in understanding the origin of elements. It is one of many telescopes that can work together to find the "transient" changes throughout the universe.

The researchers will also follow up with other archival data to see if other secrets are hidden in observations of other magnetic giant flares.

“Think about how something in my phone or laptop is forged in this extreme explosion of our Galaxy history, which is very cool,” Patel said.

Elizabeth Landau
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0845
elandau@nasa.gov