Dying stars’ cocoons could be new source of gravitational waves

When massive stars collapse into black holes, they may create powerful outflows (or jets) of particles traveling close to the speed of light. New simulations model this process — from the time the star collapses into a black hole until the jet escapes. For the first time, the simulations show that the cocoon of stellar debris around the jet can emit detectable gravitational ways.

Ore Gottlieb, who led the study, is a CIERA Fellow at Northwestern’s Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics (CIERA). Northwestern co-authors of the study include professors Vicky Kalogera and Alexander Tchekovskoy, postdoctoral associates Sharan Banagiri and Jonatan Jacquemin-Ide and graduate student Nick Kaaz.

Read the full CIERA news story here.

Credit: Ore Gottlieb/Northwestern/CIERA

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