Such heavier elements are necessary to form the dust grains and planetesimals that build planetary cores, according to the study, which was carried out by researchers Jarrett Johnson and Hui Li of ...

An illustration of the neutron capture process. Credit: Carnegie Institution of Science. Astrophysics has managed to paint a pretty accurate picture of how the elements were formed. Hydrogen and ...

Astronomers have detected the first-ever signs of nuclear fission happening in stars, a discovery that sheds light on how elements heavier than those found naturally on Earth form in the cosmos.

Geologists have found gold in rocks on Earth that are as old as 4.5 billion years, which was right when Earth formed. Still, nobody knows exactly how Earth’s gold originally formed.

Now, by analyzing the chemical composition of 42 ancient stars in the Milky Way, researchers show that the stars produced elements with atomic masses larger than 260, heavier than any element ...