Posted on 09/07/2011 1:17:20 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Explanation: Why does this star have so few heavy elements? Stars born in the generation of our Sun have an expected abundance of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium mixed into their atmospheres. Stars born in the generation before our Sun, Population II stars, the stars that created most of the heavy elements around us today, are seen to have some, although less, elements heavier than H and He. Furthermore, even the elusive never-seen first stars in the universe, so-called Population III stars, are predicted to have a large mass and a small but set amount of heavy elements. Yet low-mass Milky Way star SDSS J102915+172927, among others, appears to have less metals than ever predicted for any stars, including at least 50 times less lithium than came out of the Big Bang. The unusual nature of this star, initially cataloged by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and pictured above, was discovered by detailed spectroscopic observations by a large VLT telescope in Chile. Many models of star formation indicate that such a star should not even form. Research is ongoing, however, with one leading hypothesis holding that fragile primordial lithium was destroyed in the star's hot core.
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What is the heaviest element a star can produce?
““A widely accepted theory predicts that stars like this, with low mass and extremely low quantities of metals, shouldn’t exist because the clouds of material from which they formed could never have condensed,”[2]”
http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1132/
The gas and dust clouds from which stars form typically require some sort of external trigger such as a nearby supernova explosion or spiral arm gravitational wave in order to condense into stars. Perhaps this sort received an especially large external force. Perhaps it was very close to the exploded super nova or in a ‘special’ location within a spiral arm?
Got my answer. It is iron.
Anything above iron is the result of a super nova.
>>> What is the heaviest element a star can produce?
I believe the theories so far say that the day to day fusion in a star will produce elements only up to Iron. The heavier elements are then the result of the forces as the star ultimately collapses and goes nova.
Then again, nevermind :)
And I thank you. :)
Wikipedia is a good source for hard science facts.
Iron. However, heavier elements are created in supernova explosions and scattered back into the interstellar medium, to be parts of new stars and planetary systems.
He is still getting a kick out of our evolution fantasy.
It is cool how elements are made.
My chemistry prof told the class that it is thought that there are more natural elements than is currently known, we just don’t have yet the technological means of detecting those elements.
Scientists even think they’ve figured out the shape of the electron pathways of the next shell.
"These are the only ones of which the news has come to Harvard,
And there may be many others, but they haven't been discovered."
Tom Lehr - The Elements
I was reading that the first molecule of an element denser than iron at a star’s core means almost immediate destruction of the star.
As I understood it, it creates some sort of back pressure and shock wave that helps create more heavy elements. (as well as the destruction of the star)
Look at the lower right of the Periodic Table.
Except for perhaps a few man-made elements, with short lives, the answer is “all of them, including the heaviest.”
Where else would any of the natural elements come from?
Your momma’s cooking?
“Shouldn’t exist?” Well, it does exist, so it’s time for some new theories.
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It would depend too on where this star is in the galaxy. If it´s in the outer reaches/limbs one would expect it to be less enriched in heavier elements.
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