What elements are produced only in supernova explosions?

What elements are produced only in supernova explosions?

The most common elements, like carbon and nitrogen, are created in the cores of most stars, fused from lighter elements like hydrogen and helium. The heaviest elements, like iron, however, are only formed in the massive stars which end their lives in supernova explosions.

Why do the heaviest elements only form during a supernova?

For a supernova, it needs to be larger. The first stage is the hydrogen fusion into heavier elements. The fusion to make an element heavier than iron consumes more energy than what it produces, so when the “iron fusion” (creation of iron) process slows down significantly, the star collapses.

What can be formed after a supernova?

The remnants of the stellar core which are left after the supernovae explosion will follow one of two paths: neutron star or black hole.

What is formed in a supernova explosion of a massive star?

Within a massive, evolved star (a) the onion-layered shells of elements undergo fusion, forming an iron core (b) that reaches Chandrasekhar-mass and starts to collapse. The inner part of the core is compressed into neutrons (c), causing infalling material to bounce (d) and form an outward-propagating shock front (red).

Why will the sun never go supernova?

No. The sun is too small, the lower limit for stars that can go supernova is 8–20 solar masses. If it was big enough to go nova, anything and everything that had life in a 30 light years radius (or somethung close to that), would either be completely sterilized of it, or would undergo a mass extinction event.

What happens if R136a1 goes supernova?

Due to its massive size and intense luminosity R136a1 will burn out its fuel very quickly. Given its nature, it will inevitably become either a black hole or a neutron star after suffering a type lc core-collapse supernova. But because of its enormous mass, the most likely outcome is that it will become a black hole.