When neutron stars — the dense remnants of exploded massive stars — merge, we see a dazzling cosmic splash. But what happens in the moments before that happens? Astronomers used the Pleiades supercomputer at NASA Ames Research Center to run over 100 simulations of a system of two orbiting neutron stars. This was to explore how different magnetic field structures affected how all wavelengths of light leave the binary system. Most of the simulations showed the last 7.7 milliseconds before a merger

Material Analysis Using Neutron Depth Profiling

NIST researchers and their colleagues have demonstrated a method to distinguish century-old coins from fakes by imaging antique coins with beams of low-energy neutrons. Authenticating coins is critical because scientists rely on them to chronicle the economic, political, and scientific developments of nations. NIST researcher Daniel Hussey and his colleagues chose neutrons to examine two Korean coins—one minted in the 1800s, the other a replica—because these subatomic particles penetrate heavy m

Several workers exposed to elevated radiation levels at NIST Center for Neutron Research in Gaithersburg