In a study published in The Astrophysical Journal, scientists have proposed the features of rapid neutron capture process (r-process) nucleosynthesis in a novel scenario, common envelope jet ...

The r-process, or rapid neutron-capture process, as a research area focuses on understanding the nucleosynthesis of roughly half of the elements heavier than iron through environments with extremely ...

For the first time, astronomers have definitively ID’d a specific heavy element forged by a neutron star merger. Theories of physics have long predicted that about half of the universe’s heavy ...

Although the periodic table is filled with elements, nuclear fusion at the center of stars can only produce elements with atomic masses lower than iron—after than, neutron captures processes known as ...