Ashley Hong

Neutron stars and multimessenger astronomy

Started Sept. 9, 2023

Abstract or project description

Neutron stars are some of the most exotic objects in the universe, from their formation, which occurs after a star dies, to their death, which potentially involves an energetic collision with another star. The latter was observed in 2017, when two neutron stars collided and released a burst of gravitational waves. While the detection of gravitational waves from the event was unique, so was the subsequent observation of electromagnetic waves from the event, including gamma and radio waves. This event was the birth of "multimessenger" astronomy, in which information about astronomical events is carried in different forms to earth. This project will explore neutron stars and how we've advanced our knowledge recently about them due to multimessenger astronomy.