NASA Finds Extreme Star Collision in Unlikely Spot

Astronomers uncover a rare neutron star collision in a tiny, gas-rich galaxy

Published on Mar. 11, 2026

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NASA's fleet of telescopes has likely discovered a collision between two ultradense neutron stars in a tiny galaxy buried within a vast stream of gas, an event that could help solve two outstanding cosmic mysteries related to gamma-ray bursts and the origin of heavy elements like gold and platinum.

Why it matters

This unexpected location for a neutron star collision may explain why some gamma-ray bursts do not appear to originate within the cores of galaxies, and could also shed light on how heavy elements are distributed throughout the outskirts of galaxies.

The details

The neutron star collision, dubbed GRB 230906A, occurred on September 6, 2023 in a tiny galaxy about 4.7 billion light-years away, embedded within a 600,000 light-year-long stream of gas likely created by a past galaxy collision. Astronomers used data from NASA's Chandra, Fermi, Swift, and Hubble telescopes to pinpoint the location and study the event.

  • The neutron star collision, dubbed GRB 230906A, occurred on September 6, 2023.
  • The gas stream that hosts the tiny galaxy was likely created hundreds of millions of years ago by a collision between a group of galaxies.

The players

Simone Dichiara

A researcher at Penn State University who led the study on the neutron star collision.

Eleonora Troja

A co-author of the study and researcher at the University of Rome in Italy.

Brendan O'Connor

A McWilliams Postdoctoral Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University and co-author of the study.

Chandra X-ray Observatory

A NASA telescope that provided the precise X-ray localization of the neutron star collision event.

Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope

A NASA telescope that initially detected the gamma-ray burst signal from the neutron star collision.

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What they’re saying

“Finding a neutron star collision where we did is game changing. It may be the key to unlocking not one, but two important questions in astrophysics.”

— Simone Dichiara, Researcher, Penn State University (Astrophysical Journal Letters)

“We found a collision within a collision. The galaxy collision triggered a wave of star formation that, over hundreds of millions of years, led to the birth and eventual collision of these neutron stars.”

— Eleonora Troja, Researcher, University of Rome (Astrophysical Journal Letters)

“Chandra's pinpoint X-ray localization made this study possible. Without it, we couldn't have tied the burst to any specific source. And once Chandra told us exactly where to look, Hubble's extraordinary sensitivity revealed the tiny, extremely faint galaxy at that position. We were only able to make this discovery after we put all the pieces together.”

— Brendan O'Connor, McWilliams Postdoctoral Fellow, Carnegie Mellon University (Astrophysical Journal Letters)

What’s next

The team will continue to study GRB 230906A and its host galaxy to better understand the implications for gamma-ray bursts and the distribution of heavy elements in the universe.

The takeaway

This unexpected discovery of a neutron star collision in a tiny, gas-rich galaxy could help solve longstanding mysteries about the origins of gamma-ray bursts and the cosmic distribution of heavy elements like gold and platinum.