Magnetic rockets can be responsible for the creation and distribution of gold and other heavy elements
From Big Bang, the early universe had hydrogen, helium and a small amount of lithium. Later, certain heavier elements, including iron, were forged in stars. But one of the greatest mysteries of astrophysics is: how the first elements heavier than iron, like gold, were created and distributed throughout the universe? In new research, astronomers from the University of Columbia and elsewhere have calculated that a single rocket in a magnetar can produce the mass equivalent of 27 moons of these elements at one time.
The impression of an artist of a magnetar. Image credit: Goddard Space Flight Center de la NASA / S. WIESSINGER.
For decades, astronomers had only theories on the origin of some of the heaviest elements in nature, such as gold, uranium and platinum.
But by taking a new look at the old archive data, the researchers now estimate that up to 10% of these heavy elements of the Milky Way are derived from the ejections of highly magnetized neutron stars, called magnetars.
“Until recently, astronomers had involuntarily neglected the role that magnetars, which are mainly dead of supernovae, could play in the formation of the first galaxies,” said Ohio State University professor Todd Thompson.
“Neutron stars are very exotic and very dense objects that are famous for having very large very strong magnetic fields. They are close to black holes, but are not.”
Although the origins of heavy elements have long been a silent mystery, scientists knew that they could only form under special conditions by a method called R-Carrian (or rapid neutrron capture process), a set of unique and complex nuclear reactions.
They saw this process in action when they detected the collision of two super dense neutron stars in 2017.
This event, captured using NASA telescopes, of the Laser Interferometers Observatory (LIGO) and other instruments, provided the first direct proof that heavy metals were created by celestial forces.
But other evidence has shown that other mechanisms may be necessary to take into account all these elements, because the collisions of neutron stars may not produce heavy elements quickly enough in the early universe.
Based on these clues helped Professor Thompson and his colleagues to recognize that powerful magnetary rockets could indeed serve as potential ejectors of heavy elements, an observation confirmed by 20 years observations on the Magnetitar SGR 1806-20 push.
By analyzing this Flare event, the researchers determined that the radioactive decrease of the newly created elements corresponded to their theoretical predictions at the moment and the types of energies published by a magnetar rocket after having ejected heavy R process.
“This is really only the second time that we have seen proof of the form of these elements directly, the first being star neutrons,” said professor of the University of Columbia, Brian Metzger.
“It is a substantial jump in our understanding of the production of heavy elements.”
“It is quite incredible to think that some of the heavy elements around us, such as the precious metals of our phones and computers, are produced in these crazy extreme environments,” said Anirudh Patel, doctoral candidate at Columbia University.
Researchers have also theorized that magnetary rockets produce heavy cosmic rays, high -speed particles whose physical origin remains unknown.
“I love new ideas on the functioning of systems, the functioning of new discoveries, the functioning of the universe,” said Professor Thompson.
“This is why the results like this are really exciting.”
The team paper was published in the Astrophysical newspaper letters.
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Anirudh Patel and al. 2025. Direct proof of the R-PROCESS nucleosynthesis in the MEV delayed emission of the giant escape magnetar SGR 1806-20. Apjl 984, L29; DOI: 10.3847 / 2041-8213 / ADC9B0
