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[Music throughout]

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When superdense neutron stars crash,

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the event can be felt across the cosmos.

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But astronomers would love
to find these systems before they collide.

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And new simulations are guiding the way.

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Neutron stars pack the mass of our Sun

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into a ball the size of a city.

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When two orbit each other,

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they'll eventually merge.

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That event produces ripples in space-time,

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a blast of gamma rays and other light,

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and may leave behind a new black hole.

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Neutron stars have superstrong magnetic fields

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filled with energetic particles.

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New simulations run on NASA Ames’

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Pleiades supercomputer show

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how these fields begin interacting

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long before the stars crash.

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As the magnetic fields intertwine,

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they produce a glow

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that steadily increases

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as the stars spiral closer together.

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These simulations

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map where the most energetic gamma rays

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produce a distinctive glow

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we could detect from Earth,

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a goal for next-generation telescopes.

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Simulations like these

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will help astronomers better understand
how these fields interact

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and better predict

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the electromagnetic signals

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that will point

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to imminent neutron star collisions.

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[NASA]