Heavy Metals Of The Earth Are The Result Of The Explosion Of A Supernova

In a finding that can defeat our understanding of where the heavy elements of Earth come from, such as gold and platinum, new research by a physicist at the University of Guelph suggests that most of them were thrown from a kind of explosion of very distant stars in space and time of our planet.

About 80 percent of the heavy elements in the universe were probably formed in collapses, a rare but heavy form of supernovas, rich in elements, from the gravitational collapse of ancient and massive stars, typically 30 times heavier than our sun said physics professor Daniel Siegel.

Siegel said who is in the widespread belief that these elements come mainly from collisions between neutron stars or between a neutron star and a black hole.

His article, written in collaboration with colleagues at Columbia University, appears today in the journal Nature.

Using supercomputers, the trio simulated the dynamics of the collapsers, or the stars of today, gravity has to implode and form black holes.

Siegel said, "Feel surprisingly similar to what we observe in our solar system." He joined U of G this month and was also appointed to the Perimetric Institute of Theoretical Physics, in Waterloo, Ontario.

Most of the elements that are found in nature were created in the reactions in the stars and, finally, they were expelled in big stellar explosions.

Heavy elements found on Earth and in other parts of the universe have long ranged from gold and platinum, to uranium and plutonium used in nuclear reactors, to more exotic chemical elements such as neodymium, which is found in consumer goods such as electronics.

Until now, scientists thought that these elements were cooked mainly in stellar explosions that involved neutron stars or black holes, as in a collision of two neutron stars observed by the Earth detectors that made headlines in 2017.

Ironically, Siegel said, his team began working to understand the physics of that fusion before its simulations pointed to collapses like a heavy-duty birth chamber. "Our research on neutron star mergers has led us to believe that the birth of black holes is very different.

Collapses also produce intense flashes of gamma rays.

"Eighty percent of these elements can be seen in the past." "Collapses are quite rare in supernova occurrences." Much larger than that of neutrons and mergers of stars ".

The team now expects to see its theoretical model validated by observations. Siegel said that infrared instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope, to be launched in 2021, will become a source of information in a distant galaxy.

"That would be a clear signature," he said, and said astronomers could also find evidence of collapses to observe the amounts and distribution of heavy elements in other stars of our Milky Way Galaxy.

Siegel said that this research may be about how our galaxy began.

"Try to determine where the heavy elements come from, good indicator".

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the creation by Dmitri Mendeleev of the periodic table of chemical elements. Since then, the elements have added many more elements to the periodic table, a staple of science textbooks and classrooms around the world.

By: Preeti Narula

Content: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/06/190613121042.htm