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If two neutrons stars that are orbiting were to collide, how big would the supernova explosion be?

Would a new black hole or a new supernova remnant be formed?

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  • $\begingroup$ What is a "neutron supernova collision"? $\endgroup$
    – peterh
    Dec 14, 2020 at 13:32
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    $\begingroup$ Does this answer your question? Is a kilonova bigger than a supernova? $\endgroup$
    – user24157
    Dec 14, 2020 at 17:51

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When two neutron stars collide, the resulting supernova is called a "kilonova," producing much more energy than a regular supernova. Additionally, heavier elements are formed, such as gold, platinum, etc. Other effects of this collision include a gamma-ray burst and/or gravitational waves. The object formed after the event can either be a heavier neutron star, or a black hole (if the mass of the merger exceeds the maximum mass of a neutron star, about 3 solar masses).

As of right now, we have not detected a neutron star merger that is visible to the naked eye; almost all of them occurred in different galaxies, billions of light-years away. I hope this helps.

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  • $\begingroup$ Why do you say that a kilonova produces more energy than a supernova? The ejecta from a kilonova can have higher speeds than supernova ejecta, but the total energy released is generally much smaller. Please see the question linked above by antispinwards. $\endgroup$
    – PM 2Ring
    Dec 16, 2020 at 8:18

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