The Gold on Earth Came From Dying Stars

Added: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]Most of the gold on Earth was forged in a collision between two dead stars long before our planet existed.

[00:00:06]When two neutron stars spiral together, they release more energy in a few seconds than the Sun will emit over its entire lifetime.

[00:00:14]The collision forges heavy elements, gold, platinum, uranium, and flings them across space in a glowing cloud called a kilonova.

[00:00:23]On August 17th, 2017, LIGO detected the gravitational waves from one such merger, and telescopes pinpointed afterglow in a galaxy 130 million light-years away.

[00:00:35]It was the first event ever observed in both gravitational waves and light.

[00:00:40]Analysis showed the debris contained the mass of several Earths in pure gold and platinum.

[00:00:46]Your wedding ring, if you have one, is older than the planet it's sitting on, and it came from two stars that died.