In: Physics
Can a star produce GOLD before exploding in a supernova? Does it produce gold in a supernova? Where does gold come from?
Gold is thought to have been produced in supernova
nucleosynthesis, and from the collision of neutron stars, and to
have been present in the dust from which the Solar System formed.
... Current astrophysical models suggest that this single neutron
star merger event generated between 3 and 13 Earth masses of
gold.
Gold, like most heavy metals, are forged inside stars through a
process called nuclear fusion. In the beginning, following the Big
Bang, only two elements were formed: hydrogen and helium. ... Once
these earlier stars ran out of light elements to burn, they kicked
in on the heavier ones.
In a finding that may overthrow our understanding of where Earth's
heavy elements such as gold and platinum come from, new research by
a University of Guelph physicist suggests that most of them were
spewed from a largely overlooked kind of star explosion far away in
space and time from our planet.