50 years ago, scientists didn’t know where heavy elements came from
Excerpt from the December 20, 1969 issue of Science News
Heavy elements probably aren’t created by an ordinary star exploding, or a supernova, the remnants of which are shown in this infrared and X-ray compsite image. But scientists now have seen these elements created in the collision of two neutron stars. Regular supernovas (like the one in this image created with infrared and X-ray data) probably can’t form heavy elements, but powerful, more exotic supernovas might.
NASA Goddard
Seeking the places where the elements are made — Science News, December 20, 1969
One of the outstanding questions in astrophysics is whether all [variants of naturally occurring elements] have been present from the beginning of the universe.…