Gold and other heavy elements are born in some of the universe’s most violent events—but scientists still struggle to understand the nuclear steps that create them. Now, nuclear physicists have ...

Gold cannot form until certain unstable atomic nuclei break apart. Exactly how those nuclear transformations unfold has long been difficult to ...

In a study published in The Astrophysical Journal, scientists have proposed the features of rapid neutron capture process (r-process) nucleosynthesis in a novel scenario, common envelope jet ...

All around us are elements forged in stars, from the nickel and copper in coins to the gold and silver in jewelry. Scientists have a good understanding of how these elements form: In many cases, a ...

Models for how heavy elements are produced within stars have become more accurate thanks to measurements by RIKEN nuclear physicists of the probabilities that 20 neutron-rich nuclei will shed neutrons ...

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 ...

Research by scientists in South Africa and India is shedding light on the nuclear processes that lead to the formation of heavy elements after the collision of neutron stars, and why those elements ...

The origin of heavy elements in our universe is theorized to be the result of neutron star collisions, which produce conditions hot and dense enough for free neutrons to merge with atomic nuclei and ...

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 ...

You might owe that gold necklace around your neck to a moody, long-dead star from the universe’s ancient past. According to a new study, magnetars—a rare type of neutron star—may have forged some of ...