The “Heavy Element” Cookbook

Abstract

Without heavy elements, planets such as Earth and life are not possible. But where did the heavy elements come from? In an earlier chapter we saw that for several years this was a controversial issue. Finally, though, it was resolved in favor of stars. Let us turn, then, to how they were formed. We will begin with the moderately heavy elements, those from carbon to iron. Elements beyond iron will be dealt with later in the chapter.