Space

Here’s how a collision of star remnants launches a gleaming jet

An enlarged magnetic field plays a crucial role

Two tornadoes of magenta spiral out from the center towards the top and bottom of the image, with green arrows overlapping and pointing outward to represent the bidirectional jet. The center is surrounded by wispy clouds of green and blue in layers, representing the disk of star matter around the black hole in the center.

After two neutron stars of unequal mass merge and form a black hole (center, not visible), an enlarged, twisted magnetic field (pink) causes the celestial body to shoot a bidirectional jet of high energy matter (green arrows), a new simulation shows.

K. Hayashi/Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute)

By McKenzie Prillaman

When the remnants of two stars collide, their union can launch a dazzling jet of high energy matter.