Re: Two neutron stars on a collision course?

On 10 Mrz., 00:10, Tim Little <t...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> On 2008-03-09, Matt Browne SFW <matt.h.bro...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
> > If so, this would be an interesting stellar cycle beginning with the
> > fusion of hydrogen all the way to iron, then iron via a neutron star
> > gets converted back to hydrogen. A wonderful cosmic cycle.
>
> Most of the matter will just end up in the singularity of a black
> hole.  Of the comparatively tiny amount of matter that escapes, I
> expect most will decay to hydrogen.  It's not much of a cycle if most
> of the matter disappears each time round.
>
> - Tim

My understanding is that if two relatively small neutron stars collide
a black hole will not form. But I agree, "cycle" was not a good
description because of the small amount of reforming hydrogen. Thanks
for pointing that out.

--
Matt Browne
My webpage is at http://www.meet-matt-browne.com
"As a race, we survive on planet Earth purely by geological consent."
Bill McGuire