[Robert A Cook PE]

I'm very comfortable with (the theory) creating heavier and heavier elements at the center of supernova's in today's universe.

Heat, pressure, times, energy levels, and percentage of elements produced work out reasonably well.

But that leaves the original question: Where did today's heavy elements come from, if we can't find the missing supernova's from the first generation stars that created them from hydrogen and helium?

[LibWhacker]

[spunkets]

"Obviously there are no supernova's nearby, and none have been nearby - or we would "see" the remnants of the supernova"

You just got through saying the heavy elements were created in an Snova. Look at your hand and the computer you're typing on. That's the remnant's of the Snova.

[Robert A Cook PE]

I'm putting my (somewhat dubious) credibility on the line in full view as a target, but I can't figure this one out.

Haven't seen this addressed in any other physics or astronomy or university (classroom notes) web site, nor in any cosmology blog or textbook I've found. (Almost) every one discusses the classic theory - some in more detail than others, but none disagree about the current theory. Further,t none go through the math or mention the transition from supernova-creates-elements-and-ejects-them to the next step of dust-cloud-forms-and-our-sun-begins-rotating-and-condensing ...

There's got to be something I've missed. Some reason or some way that other (more experienced) observers have figured out this problem that I've skipped over.

[ml/nj]

Maybe there wasn't a "BB"?

ML/NJ

[mhx]

So here's a theory: First supernova quickly seeded universe with stuff of life

[wastedyears]

I'm not fully stupid when it comes to science, but this stuff just doesn't make any sense. It seems like they're making something we have absolutely no idea about, into something extremely complicated.

Why can't scientists just say "we don't know?"

[Bender2]

Re: Where did today's heavy elements come from...

Please, Alf... They will not believe it was the Klingons!

[Enosh]

if we can't find the missing supernova's from the first generation stars that created them from hydrogen and helium?

Consider what you said.

The universe itself is expanding and such an early burst would by now have not only dispersed itself by its own energy, but would have been carried along by the universe's expansion as well.

How large would such an early burst be by now? Could we hope to detect such a diluted signature?

[Mr. K]

good question- Physicist? any thoughts?

[Stirner]

I've also wondered at the apparent superabundance of elements Fe and above. There doesn't seem to have been enough time and enough supernovae. My guess is that we've either misjudged the time scale or, much more speculatively, the early universe was not composed of bare quarks, but already consisted of nuclei, including heavy atoms and that the BB was not really a truly universal origin but a local bubble protruded by a more encompassing process.

[somemoreequalthanothers]

A bit over my head, but ping to someone who may understand.

[NicknamedBob]

The problem is you're looking at a slow eddy in the flow and wondering how all the pebbles got there.

The Solar System consists of about 99.99% Hydrogen, mostly in the Sun, and a few odd collections of the remaining debris, which has been selectively separated out like wheat from the chaff in much the same way.

The violent roiling and tossing of the primordial Earth gave ample opportunity for lighter elements to be "blown away" by the solar wind. Perhaps much of it was vacuumed up by Jupiter, which itself is another huge pool of Hydrogen, and small amounts of other stuff.

We didn't need millions of supernovae ... we really only needed one.

[DuncanWaring]

A further question I've had for a few years now is:

"After all these superstar/supernova/superstar/supernova cycles, one would expect that the atoms of the various elements would be pretty well stirred-up and randomly distributed. Where, then, did gold nuggets and iron meteoroids come from?"

[timer]

In the book of Job you will find the phrase : And the morning stars sang together. This refers to the first generation of super massive stars that formed after the 300,000 years matter-radiation decoupling period. These MONSTER stars quickly went supernova and began the heavy element seeding process. Their shock waves also created the "soap bubble" texture of galactic formation. Searching for these first stars is at the very edge of observation limits right now. We KNOW they were there, but they haven't been SEEN yet(extreme Z).

As to iron 56, that's at the bottom of the nuclear force binding energy curve. It is a ball of Fe56 nuclei at the core of a supernova that gets hammered into a neutron star or black hole. You knew that didn't you? The heavier elements are created in the explosion but some 299 out of 300 energy units of a supernova go into the neutrino burst of the core getting hammered into a sea of neutrons(from protons).

It's a complex subject and the writer doesn't have a full grasp yet of all the facts of astrophysics. As to this nonsensical Impact-Splash theory, another illustration of right brain off the wall theorizing vs reality. We wouldn't even BE here as water rich critters if a mars had hit the earth 4.4 billion years ago : no OCEANS! Where did the earth's OCEANS come from? The clue is in Gen 2:6.

[SmartAZ]

The reason the theory doesn't work right is that it postulates that gravity is the only force in the universe. We know that electrical effects also operate. The northern lights, for example. Plasma physicists routinely demonstrate all the effects seen in the universe using electric discharges, including the synthesis of heavy molecules at various apparent ages.

If you care to check this theory, you can find more at thunderbolts.info.

[RadioAstronomer]

Actually out star/solar system was created by a combination of at least three former stars that went supernova. We know this by the number of elements found inside our Sun. I am typing this off the top of my head so this value may be off but the number that comes to mind is 63 known elements.

I will write more when I get out of the lab.

[Pox]

The first generation of stars were likely very massive and thus very short lived, likely along the lines of the Wolf Rayet type. I would think that the remnants of those massive stars formed the foundation of our galaxy's central black hole.

The metals, basically anything heavier than Hydrogen and Helium, were spread out throughout the entire galaxy, some forming into new stars, and some being compressed back into the central black hole.

I would think there are a lot of possible explanations that would answer this question. Our current level of knowledge of the universe is still in the 'pre-school' stage, and although we may not currently have a good theory of everything, we are learning at an ever increasing pace it seems.

[NicknamedBob]

"And every nucleus in every gram of every ton of ore, in current theory at least, has to come from its own supernova."

Are you for some reason concluding that each atom required its own supernova?

No wonder you're running a bit short.

[Pox]

Also, how about interactions with other galaxies in our local cluster? Our galaxy may have cannibalized other galaxies and those interactions could have significant influence over the creation of Sol.

Another thing to ponder is the possibility our sun was actually formed in a binary or ternary system and was ejected from that group into our current position.

There are a lot of possibilities.

[gonzo]

"...We are told that our sun is a second generation star..."

I thought Sol was a third generation star. ............ FRegards