Quote:
Originally Posted by CraigS
Suzy;
If you're really interested, have a look at Wikipedia Stellar nucleosynthesis.
Gold (atomic mass = 196), is heavier than Iron (atomic mass = 56), so follow the R-process and S-process links. (These are the two processes which result in the creation of elements heavier than Iron, like Gold).
The R-process is a nucleosynthesis process, likely occurring in core-collapse supernovae and is responsible for for about 50% of atomic nuclei heavier than Iron and works by slow neutron capture. It occurs mainly in "Asymptotic giant branch" stars (AGB) - a fancy term for low-to-medium mass stars.
Cheers & Rgds |
No....rapid neutron capture, core collapse supernovae
AGB's are a very specific stage in the evolution of giant stars. AGB stage is the second climb to gianthood for stars that occurs after the helium flash within the cores of the stars. It's also the stage where the stars reach maximum size and luminosity just before they become unstable and start to puff off their outer layers to become planetary nebs. This starts to occur once the stars build up enough carbon and oxygen ash in their cores to shutdown the nuclear reactions there. Then the helium burning moves out into a shell around the core, along with hydrogen burning as well.
It's the S process which occurs in AGB's. It's where you get elements like fluorine, chlorine, silicon etc, forming. Most of the heavier trans Fe elements forming in the S process are things like Te, Ce, Bi, Pb etc.