The Source Of The Gold On The Planet Earth
Magnetar flares may be producing one-tenth of the gold, platinum, and other heavy elements in our galaxy, according to new research on a strange cosmic flash recorded over 20 years ago.
In December 2004, a space telescope observed a brilliant flare releasing more energy in a moment than our sun emits in a million years. The flare was coming from a highly magnetized star called a magnetar. Ten minutes later, the magnetar emitted a second, weaker signal, setting off a two-decade cosmic mystery.
BIRTH SIGNALS
After twenty years of speculation, a team at the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Astrophysics (CCA) in New York City has now resolved that the second signal was evidence of the creation of heavy elements like gold and platinum. The massive event produced enough heavy metals to equal roughly a third of Earth’s mass. Until now, scientists had only identified neutron star mergers as sources for such elements.
“This is really just the second time we’ve ever directly seen proof of where these elements form,” said study co-author Brian Metzger, a senior research scientist at the CCA and a professor at Columbia University. “It’s a substantial leap in our understanding of heavy elements production.”
CREATING HEAVY ELEMENTS
The Big Bang gave rise to a universe made mostly of light elements like hydrogen, helium, and lithium. Later, heavier elements were forged, first in the nuclear cores of early stars and later during violent stellar deaths. Yet the formation of some of the heaviest elements, particularly neutron-rich elements heavier than iron, remains a puzzle.
Through a rapid neutron-capture process (r-process), nuclear reactions build heavy elements like uranium and strontium. Only the most extreme environments, packed with free neutrons, can drive the r-process — making supernovae and neutron star mergers the expected hotspots. That idea gained support in 2017 when astronomers observed an r-process event during a neutron star merger, producing a dense “neutron soup” weighing over a billion tons per tablespoon.
MAGNETAR R-PROCESS EVENTS
Even so, there was a problem: the number of neutron star collisions appeared too low to explain all the heavy material in the universe. Researchers began investigating other potential r-process sources, including magnetars. Working with colleagues, Metzger proposed that enormous flares could eject magnetar crust material into space, providing the conditions for r-process element formation.
“It’s pretty incredible to think that some of the heavy elements all around us, like the precious metals in our phones and computers, are produced in these crazy extreme environments,” said lead author Anirudh Patel, a doctoral candidate at Columbia University.
These events would generate unstable, heavy radioactive nuclei that emit gamma rays before stabilizing into heavy elements like gold. When the team shared their calculations within the astronomy community, colleagues pointed to the 2004 flare as a potential real-world example, connecting two previously separate research areas.
“The event had kind of been forgotten over the years,” Metzger says. “But we very quickly realized that our model was a perfect fit for it.”
HEAVY ELEMENTS IDENTIFIED
When Metzger’s team ran the numbers, they estimated that the 2004 r-process event produced two million billion kilograms of heavy elements. Considering the abundance of magnetized stars, they concluded that magnetars likely produce about 10% of the r-process elements in our galaxy, with neutron star mergers making up the other 90%.
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“The interesting thing about these giant flares is that they can occur really early in galactic history,” Patel adds. “Magnetar giant flares could be the solution to a problem we’ve had where there are more heavy elements seen in young galaxies than could be created from neutron star collisions alone.”
LOOKING AHEAD
More research will be needed to precisely determine how much heavy material originates from magnetars. Fortunately, NASA’s Compton Spectrometer and Imager mission, launching in 2027, is equipped to observe magnetars in greater detail. Astronomers estimate that events like the 2004 flare occur roughly every few decades.
“Once a gamma-ray burst is detected, you have to point an ultraviolet telescope at the source within 10 to 15 minutes to see the signal’s peak and confirm r-process elements are made there,” Metzger says. “It’ll be a fun chase.”
The paper “Direct Evidence for R-process Nucleosynthesis in Delayed MeV Emission from the SGR 1806-20 Magnetar Giant Flare” appeared on April 29, 2025, in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.
The Source Of The Gold On The Planet Earth
Magnetar flares may be producing one-tenth of the gold, platinum, and other heavy elements in our galaxy, according to new research on a strange cosmic flash recorded over 20 years ago.
In December 2004, a space telescope observed a brilliant flare releasing more energy in a moment than our sun emits in a million years. The flare was coming from a highly magnetized star called a magnetar. Ten minutes later, the magnetar emitted a second, weaker signal, setting off a two-decade cosmic mystery.
BIRTH SIGNALS
After twenty years of speculation, a team at the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Astrophysics (CCA) in New York City has now resolved that the second signal was evidence of the creation of heavy elements like gold and platinum. The massive event produced enough heavy metals to equal roughly a third of Earth’s mass. Until now, scientists had only identified neutron star mergers as sources for such elements.
“This is really just the second time we’ve ever directly seen proof of where these elements form,” said study co-author Brian Metzger, a senior research scientist at the CCA and a professor at Columbia University. “It’s a substantial leap in our understanding of heavy elements production.”
CREATING HEAVY ELEMENTS
The Big Bang gave rise to a universe made mostly of light elements like hydrogen, helium, and lithium. Later, heavier elements were forged, first in the nuclear cores of early stars and later during violent stellar deaths. Yet the formation of some of the heaviest elements, particularly neutron-rich elements heavier than iron, remains a puzzle.
Through a rapid neutron-capture process (r-process), nuclear reactions build heavy elements like uranium and strontium. Only the most extreme environments, packed with free neutrons, can drive the r-process — making supernovae and neutron star mergers the expected hotspots. That idea gained support in 2017 when astronomers observed an r-process event during a neutron star merger, producing a dense “neutron soup” weighing over a billion tons per tablespoon.
MAGNETAR R-PROCESS EVENTS
Even so, there was a problem: the number of neutron star collisions appeared too low to explain all the heavy material in the universe. Researchers began investigating other potential r-process sources, including magnetars. Working with colleagues, Metzger proposed that enormous flares could eject magnetar crust material into space, providing the conditions for r-process element formation.
“It’s pretty incredible to think that some of the heavy elements all around us, like the precious metals in our phones and computers, are produced in these crazy extreme environments,” said lead author Anirudh Patel, a doctoral candidate at Columbia University.
These events would generate unstable, heavy radioactive nuclei that emit gamma rays before stabilizing into heavy elements like gold. When the team shared their calculations within the astronomy community, colleagues pointed to the 2004 flare as a potential real-world example, connecting two previously separate research areas.
“The event had kind of been forgotten over the years,” Metzger says. “But we very quickly realized that our model was a perfect fit for it.”
HEAVY ELEMENTS IDENTIFIED
When Metzger’s team ran the numbers, they estimated that the 2004 r-process event produced two million billion kilograms of heavy elements. Considering the abundance of magnetized stars, they concluded that magnetars likely produce about 10% of the r-process elements in our galaxy, with neutron star mergers making up the other 90%.
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“The interesting thing about these giant flares is that they can occur really early in galactic history,” Patel adds. “Magnetar giant flares could be the solution to a problem we’ve had where there are more heavy elements seen in young galaxies than could be created from neutron star collisions alone.”
LOOKING AHEAD
More research will be needed to precisely determine how much heavy material originates from magnetars. Fortunately, NASA’s Compton Spectrometer and Imager mission, launching in 2027, is equipped to observe magnetars in greater detail. Astronomers estimate that events like the 2004 flare occur roughly every few decades.
“Once a gamma-ray burst is detected, you have to point an ultraviolet telescope at the source within 10 to 15 minutes to see the signal’s peak and confirm r-process elements are made there,” Metzger says. “It’ll be a fun chase.”
The paper “Direct Evidence for R-process Nucleosynthesis in Delayed MeV Emission from the SGR 1806-20 Magnetar Giant Flare” appeared on April 29, 2025, in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.