Hydrogen and helium formed shortly after the Big Bang. Stars create elements lighter than iron through nuclear fusion. Supernovae produce elements heavier than iron via the r-process. Neutron star ...

Heavy duty: artist’s impression of a kilonova releasing r-process elements into the cosmos. (Courtesy: ESO/L Calçada/M Kornmesser) The mystery of where heavy elements such as gold and silver come from ...

Figure 1: Schematic illustration of the components of matter ejected from neutron-star mergers. The characteristic luminosity of the kilonova is approximately equal to the radioactive heating rate at ...

Primordial nucleosynthesis during the early universe generated hydrogen, helium, and minor lithium-7 before the cosmos cooled, halting further fusion. Stellar interiors synthesize elements up to iron ...

Although the periodic table is filled with elements, nuclear fusion at the center of stars can only produce elements with atomic masses lower than iron—after than, neutron captures processes known as ...

For the first time, astronomers have definitively ID’d a specific heavy element forged by a neutron star merger. Theories of physics have long predicted that about half of the universe’s heavy ...

In an ejection that would have caused its rotation to slow, a magnetar is depicted losing material into space in this artist’s concept. The magnetar’s strong, twisted magnetic field lines (shown in ...

Up to a certain point, the elements of the periodic table are largely formed in the hearts of stars. But for elements that are heavy enough (heavier than zinc typically), fusing two lighter nuclei ...