Re: Two neutron stars on a collision course?

Matt Browne SFW wrote:

> What exactly will happen when two neutron stars are on a collision
> course? I think a supernova and black hole is inevitable if both
> neutron stars are very heavy. But what about smaller ones? Will they
> merge? Or be torn into thousands of "pieces" from the impact? Another
> theory is gamma ray bursts with huge amounts of mass converted into
> energy. Expert opinion?

It depends on the sizes of the neutron stars and the details of the 
impact.  I don't see how a supernova could result, since there's 
(basically) nothing left to fuse.  The results would either be merely a 
larger neutron star, a black hole, or fragments of a neutron star that 
are below the critical mass necessary to make neutron stars stable, 
which would then evaporate through neutron decay, liberating energy 
(read: explode).

Our current theory for the cause of gamma ray bursters is hypernovae 
during massive black hole formation, so that's out too, since you need a 
collapsing star for that.

-- 
Erik Max Francis && max@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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