Crash of Extreme Stars Found in Unexpected Site | NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory

Extreme Collision of Neutron Stars Found in Unexpected Site | NASA Chandra

Astronomers have spotted the merger between two neutron stars in a very odd place. This extreme collision was found in a tiny galaxy embedded in a stream of gas. Scientists needed NASA’s Chandra, Fermi, Swift, and Hubble observatories to make this discovery. This result may help answer two mysteries about stars and intergalactic space.

A neutron star is the gravitationally collapsed core of a massive supergiant star. It results from the supernova explosion of a massive star—combined with gravitational collapse—that compresses the core past white dwarf star density to that of atomic nuclei. Surpassed only by black holes, neutron stars are the second smallest and densest known class of stellar objects.

Credits: NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory
X-ray: NASA/CXC/Penn State Univ./S. Dichiara; Infrared: NASA/ESA/STScI
Duration: 46 seconds
Release Date: March 10, 2026

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