Composite of images of NGC 4993 and kilonova from many ESO instruments

This composite shows images of the galaxy NGC 4993 from several different ESO telescopes and instruments. They all reveal a faint source of light close to the centre. This is a kilonova, the explosion resulting from the merger of two neutron stars. This merger produced both gravitational waves, detected by LIGO–Virgo, and gamma rays, detected by Fermi and INTEGRAL in space.