New research traces heavy elements to collapsing stars

By Universe Today -May 2, 2025



A high-energy photonic jet (white and blue) blasts through a collapsar with a black hole at its center. The red space around the jet represents the cocoon where free neutrons may be captured causing the r process, the nucleosynthesis that results in the formation of heavy elements. Credit: Los Alamos National Laboratory.


Based on accepted cosmological models, hydrogen and helium were the only elements in the early Universe.

These coalesced to form the first stars and galaxies, which fused hydrogen and helium to create heavier elements like carbon, silica, and iron. These, in turn, were distributed throughout the Universe once these stars experienced gravitational collapse and went supernova.

This process, known as “stellar nucleosynthesis,” is how the elements that gave rise to the planets and life formed. However, the origin of the heaviest elements on the periodic table is one of the most challenging questions in physics.

These include thorium, uranium, plutonium, and other elements that only form under extreme conditions.

More:
https://knowridge.com/2025/05/new-research-traces-heavy-elements-to-collapsing-stars/