When Neutron Stars Collide

The periodic table has 94 elements that occur naturally and 24 others that exist only in particle accelerators, nuclear reactors, and atomic explosions. The natural elements include one group known as “rapid neutron capture process” or r-process elements. Most of those elements are created when neutron stars collide, giving off gamma rays.

In the periodic table above, you can see the r-process elements in lavender. Without those elements, life would be very different, if not impossible. Two of the r-process metals are thorium and uranium. Earth’s strong magnetic field that protects us from deadly solar and cosmic radiation exists because of radioactive thorium and uranium inside our planet. Those elements are also the reason for plate tectonics, which transformed the planet from a water world (Genesis 1:2) into a world with oceans and continents (Job 38:8-11).

Other valuable metals in the r-process group include silver, gold, platinum, palladium, and osmium. Those metals are essential for electronic components and catalysts that make our high technology possible. They are also involved in medical treatments, including chemotherapy.

The precisely fine-tuned properties of neutrinos and the weak nuclear force make the rapid nuclear capture process possible. When neutron stars collide, we are also blessed by the fact that they are far away from our planet, so the gamma rays pose no risk to our survival. The closest detected collision was in a galaxy 130 million light-years from Earth. We see evidence of God’s creative wisdom in all of these things and many more.

— Roland Earnst © 2024

Reference: salvomag.com