If the final element to be fused in a star is iron, where does everything after that come from?

Question

If the final element to be fused in a star is iron, where does everything after that come from?

In: 154

Answer 1

Events like Supernovae may create elements too heavy to be created by normal stellar fusion.

To create elements heavier than iron by fusion you need to put more energy in than you get out, so this isn’t going to happen like the self sustaining process where a star fuses light elements like hydrogen and helium into heavier ones.

However very energetic events like exploding stars may create heavier elements.

Things like neutron starts colliding have been fingered as one of the really energetic events that may create some of the heavier elements.

There is still some debate whether some of the really energetic events we know of that could conceivably result in things like Gold or even Uranium being formed are really common enough to create all the stuff we currently have fo it.