"Mysterious Outer Space Signal Sparks Excitement"

Scientists have detected an "extremely exciting" gravitational-wave signal from the distant universe, believed to have been caused by the merger of a neutron star with a mystery object in the "mass gap" – an object between the heaviest known neutron star and the lightest known black hole. The nature of this mystery object, located 650 million light-years away, remains unknown, but researchers hope that further examination of similar events could provide insights into its formation and nature. This discovery, reported at the American Physical Society's meeting, suggests that the "mass gap" may be less empty than previously thought, with implications for understanding supernova explosions and potential light shows resulting from black hole interactions with neutron stars.