For decades, scientists believed that gold and other heavy elements were born from the cataclysmic collision of neutron stars. These rare events, observed across the cosmos, seemed to provide the intense conditions required to forge such elements. However, new findings from NASA and the European Space Agency suggest that another, far more frequent process might have played an even greater role. Evidence drawn from two decades of space observations points to highly magnetised neutron stars, known as magnetars, as a surprising source of gold and other elements heavier than iron. The discovery is reshaping scientific understanding of how the universe produced the materials that now exist in everything from planets to smartphones.
How magnetars might forge the universe’s rarest elements
Magnetars are among the most extreme objects known to science. Formed when massive stars collapse after supernova explosions, they contain a mass greater than that of the Sun compressed into a sphere only about 20 kilometres wide. Their magnetic fields are trillions of times stronger than Earth’s, and on rare occasions they release immense bursts of radiation called giant flares. A study led by Anirudh Patel of Columbia University, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, suggests that such flares could create heavy elements through a process known as rapid neutron capture, or the r-process.During these intense outbursts, fragments of the magnetar’s crust may be ejected at high speed into surrounding space. In this extreme environment, atomic nuclei bombard one another with neutrons, rapidly transforming lighter elements into heavier ones such as gold, platinum and uranium. The researchers estimate that magnetar flares could account for as much as ten per cent of all elements heavier than iron in our galaxy. Because magnetars existed relatively early in cosmic history, they may explain how the universe contained gold long before the first neutron star collisions occurred.The team supported its theory by analysing previously overlooked gamma-ray data from a giant flare detected in December 2004. The signal, recorded by NASA’s RHESSI and ESA’s INTEGRAL observatories, matched theoretical predictions for the radioactive decay patterns expected when heavy elements form in such explosions. The result, derived from archival observations rather than new missions, demonstrates the continuing value of past data in modern astrophysics.
What laboratory collisions reveal about gold creation on Earth
While magnetars operate on cosmic scales, similar processes can be studied much closer to home. Researchers at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have recreated miniature versions of these extreme conditions using ultraperipheral collisions of lead ions. In such collisions, the atomic nuclei pass near one another without physically touching. Instead of colliding directly, they interact through intense electromagnetic fields generated by the ions’ high velocities.A 2024 study by the ALICE Collaboration, published in Physical Review C, measured for the first time the cross-sections of proton and neutron emissions produced during these events. The results confirmed that photon-induced reactions can transform lead nuclei into lighter elements such as thallium, mercury and even gold. Although the quantities produced are microscopic, estimated at about 2.9 × 10⁻¹¹ grams during the LHC’s second operational run, the experiment shows that gold can indeed be created through electromagnetic dissociation rather than direct nuclear fusion.The findings not only validate theoretical models such as RELDIS but also have practical implications for future high-energy experiments. By improving understanding of photonuclear reactions, scientists can refine how they control beam losses and particle emissions, which are critical to both collider performance and safety. Beyond their engineering value, such studies provide a tangible laboratory demonstration of the same nuclear processes thought to occur in magnetars and supernovae.
Why the discovery changes the story of cosmic evolution
The idea that magnetar flares could be a major source of heavy elements challenges a long-standing narrative in astrophysics. Neutron star mergers, confirmed in 2017 through gravitational-wave and optical observations, were believed to be the main origin of gold and other r-process elements. However, these collisions occur relatively late in the universe’s history, long after the first generations of stars had formed. The presence of gold and uranium in very old stars suggested that another mechanism must have operated earlier.By identifying magnetar flares as an additional source, researchers have opened a new chapter in the study of chemical evolution. The results imply that the universe began producing complex matter much sooner than previously thought. This not only changes the timeline of element formation but also influences models of how galaxies evolved. Magnetar activity, occurring soon after the first massive stars died, could have seeded the early cosmos with the raw materials for planets and biological systems.Future missions such as NASA’s Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI), scheduled for launch in 2027, are expected to test these conclusions. COSI will be capable of identifying specific elements formed during magnetar events by measuring their gamma-ray signatures. Its data will help confirm whether such flares truly account for a significant share of the universe’s heavy elements or whether other, as yet undiscovered, processes may also contribute.
How both paths to gold deepen our understanding of matter
The convergence of astrophysical and experimental evidence underscores how multiple environments can produce the same fundamental outcome: the creation of heavy elements through extreme physical conditions. Magnetars demonstrate that nature itself possesses mechanisms for nuclear synthesis on a galactic scale, while the LHC reveals that these mechanisms can be recreated, in miniature, within human-made laboratories.This dual perspective unites cosmology and particle physics in a shared quest to trace the origins of matter. From the collapse of distant stars to collisions of lead ions near Geneva, the process follows the same nuclear logic of rapid neutron absorption and atomic transformation. For scientists, the renewed focus on magnetars does not replace earlier theories but rather expands them, suggesting that the universe’s inventory of elements arose from a combination of rare cosmic mergers and frequent stellar outbursts.As research progresses, both telescopic observation and laboratory experimentation will continue to refine this picture. What began as an astronomical mystery about the source of gold now connects the deepest regions of space with the most advanced technologies on Earth, revealing that the matter shaping our world was forged in environments both ancient and ongoing.Also Read | Hydrogen can make water on alien worlds: A nature study just rewrote how planets form oceans
