Creation "Science" And The Flood of Noah.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Rogan Josh
They are not produced in Supernovae - they are produced in Stars. Supernovae just spread them around (when stars go BOOM!).

Don't novas and supernovas produce some elements esp. iron?

[Rogan Josh]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Don't novas and supernovas produce some elements esp. iron?

They do produce heavier elements in this way (it is a bloody big nuclear fusion explosion after all) but stars are the main sources of elements lighter than iron. For really heavy elements (which are too unstable to be made by stellar fussion) you actually need the supernovae.

Our Sun for example has iron in its core I believe.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by Rogan Josh


They do produce heavier elements in this way (it is a bloody big nuclear fusion explosion after all) but stars are the main sources of elements lighter than iron. For really heavy elements (which are too unstable to be made by stellar fussion) you actually need the supernovae.

Our Sun for example has iron in its core I believe.

Not much iron there.

Most production of the heavier elements occurs when a star reaches its red giant phase. If the star is large enough it will display a helium flash - the point at which helium is fused in greater quantities into carbon. For even larger stars the carbon will be fused into successively heavier elements up to iron.

Larger stars will produce elements heavier than iron by going nova (type II supernovae, IIRC). "Rare-Earth" elements are made by neutron capture in red giants, whilst the radioactive elements are formed by rapid neutron capture, which occurs during supernovae.

[Rogan Josh]

Originally posted by Sagacious Dolphin
Not much iron there.

I am surprised that it doesn't have some iron, since it isn't a first generation star so one would expect that it would have 'inhereted' iron from its 'parent'.

[Dauphin]

"Not much" is a relative term. Compared to the other elements its a piddly amount. About 0.003%

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Sagacious Dolphin
Larger stars will produce elements heavier than iron by going nova (type II supernovae, IIRC). "Rare-Earth" elements are made by neutron capture in red giants, whilst the radioactive elements are formed by rapid neutron capture, which occurs during supernovae.

Okay. I remember that iron is the end point for fusion. You can't get more energy by fusing iron nucleii.