# Neutron star collision - gold formation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 22, 2017, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neutron-star-collision-gold-formation/799517 "2017-10-22T01:47:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neutron-star-collision-gold-formation/799517/21 "2017-10-26T00:16:42Z")
Even while it’s still in the star, a neutron star still contains some protons (about 10% of the mass), with a corresponding number of electrons. Plus there are also thin outer layers which still contain discrete atoms (though some of them in isotopes which would be impossible at low pressures). ---
**Author:** ![j\_sum1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8baadc/32.png) [@j\_sum1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j_sum1)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neutron-star-collision-gold-formation/799517/22 "2017-10-26T04:52:42Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Even while it’s still in the star, a neutron star still contains some protons (about 10% of the mass), with a corresponding number of electrons. Plus there are also thin outer layers which still contain discrete atoms (though some of them in isotopes which would be impossible at low pressures). Ok. So you are telling me that the stuff of a neutron star would conduct electricity. I confess that this is not something I have really thought of before. I had always pictured neutron stars as being dense, spherical, featureless, hideous, potentially dangerous but mostly passive entities. If they contain charged particles that affords them some properties I had not really considered. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neutron-star-collision-gold-formation/799517/23 "2017-10-26T12:34:06Z")
> [@j\_sum1](#): > > Ok. So you are telling me that the stuff of a neutron star would conduct electricity. I confess that this is not something I have really thought of before. One word: [del]plastics[/del] pulsars. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neutron-star-collision-gold-formation/799517/24 "2017-10-26T13:47:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Even while it’s still in the star, a neutron star still contains some protons (about 10% of the mass), with a corresponding number of electrons. Plus there are also thin outer layers which still contain discrete atoms (though some of them in isotopes which would be impossible at low pressures). So the pressure of gravity in a neutron star is strong enough to hold together isotopes that would otherwise be unstable? Wow, the universe is weird ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neutron-star-collision-gold-formation/799517/25 "2017-10-26T14:01:14Z")
> [@j\_sum1](#): > > Ok. So you are telling me that the stuff of a neutron star would conduct electricity. I confess that this is not something I have really thought of before. > I had always pictured neutron stars as being dense, spherical, featureless, hideous, potentially dangerous but mostly passive entities. If they contain charged particles that affords them some properties I had not really considered. Not just conduct, I believe that neutron stars are supposed to be superconductors. Dense, spherical, and dangerous you got for sure. Hideous is in the eye of the beholder. 🙂 Featureless (counting magnetic fields) and passive, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neutron-star-collision-gold-formation/799517/26 "2017-10-26T14:33:23Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > So the pressure of gravity in a neutron star is strong enough to hold together isotopes that would otherwise be unstable? Wow, the universe is weird A neutron star is a little like one big unstable isotope with an atomic weight of 1.73 kazillion. (ETA: Just had a thought–a mole of neutron stars!) ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neutron-star-collision-gold-formation/799517/27 "2017-10-26T15:15:47Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > (ETA: Just had a thought–a mole of neutron stars!) How about a [mole of moles?](https://what-if.xkcd.com/4/) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neutron-star-collision-gold-formation/799517/28 "2017-10-26T15:32:52Z")
If I’m doing my math right, it would take around 100 million moles of moles to collapse into a neutron star. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neutron-star-collision-gold-formation/799517/29 "2017-10-26T15:57:49Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > If I’m doing my math right, it would take around 100 million moles of moles to collapse into a neutron star. No, it’s got to be way more than that; I’ve got that many in my backyard right now, and I haven’t seen any neutron stars in the area. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neutron-star-collision-gold-formation/799517/30 "2017-10-26T20:37:46Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **j\_sum1** : > > I had always pictured neutron stars as being dense, spherical, featureless, hideous, potentially dangerous but mostly passive entities. If they contain charged particles that affords them some properties I had not really considered. The extent to which it affords them properties beyond what you’d considered is really quite difficult to fathom. For instance, you can have neutron stars whose magnetic fields are a billion times denser than water. Note: That’s not the matter of the star (which is orders of magnitude denser yet than that); that’s literally the density of the magnetic field alone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neutron-star-collision-gold-formation/799517.md?page=1)