Not long ago, astrophysicists were only predicting that a black hole is able to collide with a neutron star. In the lack of precise evidence, scientists weren’t sure about such an incredible scenario, but this situation recently changed.
As BBC announces, astronomers detected two collisions occurring between a black hole and a neutron star over a period of 10 days. Scientists also didn’t know how often such collisions can happen.
Textbooks could be rewritten
Professor Vivien Raymond from the Cardiff University declared for BBC News:
We have to go back to the drawing board and rewrite our theories,
We have learned a bit of a lesson again. When we assume something we tend to be proved wrong after a while. So we have to keep our minds open and see what the Universe is telling us.
Both black holes and neutron stars are very massive cosmic objects. When two of these objects collide with each other, they produce ripples in the fabric of spacetime, which are known as gravitational waves. The scientists were able to detect such waves, which led to their discovery.
The first collision was detected last year in January when a black hole about six times more massive than our Sun smashed into a neutron star that was 1.5 more massive than our host star. A second such collision was detected ten days later.
Astronomers are constantly grasping new insights about the Universe, and although it may be frustrating that there’s a lot more to learn even for the smartest people in such a field, the mystery itself is what keeps pushing them forward. If astronomers would know everything, there’s no use asking questions anymore and looking for answers regarding the most primordial cosmic processes.
