Some of the universe's most energetic and mysterious light shows, long gamma-ray bursts, could be generated after dense dead stars collide to create infant black holes surrounded by a natal disk of gas and dust.
This is the conclusion of a team of researchers who used computer simulations to show that when neutron stars — dense, extremely dead stars created when massive stars run out of nuclear fuel — collide and merge, a long gamma-ray burst can be launched alongside the event's jets and winds of energetic particles.
