The University of Glasgow's Institute for Gravitational Research are celebrating the observation of a unique star collision – the second of its kind to ever be recorded. 

The observatory known as LIGO Livingston picked up what appeared to be gravitational ripples from a collision of two neutron stars.

The first ever observation of this kind was recorded in 2017, which made history for being the first time that both gravitational waves and lights were detected from the same cosmic event. 

Although no light was detected in the most recent collision picked up by Glasgow University's gravitational researchers, it was unveiled that the event resulted in a merged object with an unusually high mass. Professor Sheila Rowan, director of the University of Glasgow’s Institute for Gravitational Research, said: “We’re thrilled to have observed a second neutron star collision, less than two years after the first detection of this type of event, and we’ve been pleasantly surprised by the unexpectedly high mass of the binary.

“It’s a reminder that there’s still so much that gravitational wave astronomy has yet to reveal about how our universe works. We’ve made many discoveries since the first-ever detection in September 2015 but gravitational wave astronomy is still very much in its infancy, and we’re excited to see what our next detection can teach us.”

Neutron stars are the remnants of dead stars that once exploded. When two neutron stars spiral together, they undergo a violent merger that sends gravitational shudders through the fabric of space and time.