AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- The discovery of a new neutron star system has produced the theory that neutron stars may collide more often than has been thought.
The term "neutron star" is given to the dense stellar remains left after stars explode. But the theory that such stars may merge more often than thought, raises the odds that astronomers may soon detect the elusive gravitational waves predicted by Einstein.
NewScientist.com said the two newly discovered neutron stars are whipping around each other in the closest and fastest orbits yet observed. The discovery suggests mergers between neutron stars occur about 10 times more often than thought.
Previously, astronomers estimated neutron star mergers should produce detectable gravitational waves once every 10 to 20 years. The latest discovery cuts that rate to once every one to two years.
One of the astronomers who discovered the new system, E.P.J. van den Heuver of the University of Amsterdam, wrote:
"Gravitational waves represent one of the great challenges of present-day fundamental physics. No one has ever detected them directly, but the chances of doing so have just improved."
Gravitational waves are an elusive phenomenon predicted by Einstein's general theory of relativity.
