Stellar Explosion

MELITA B. SARIGUMBA
Quezon City High School – Senior High School
Quezon City, PHILIPPINES
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Review: High Mass Star
Explosion
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Supernovae release a huge
amount of nuclear energy and
produce, through neutron
capture and radioactive decay,
other elements heavier than
iron.
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 Processes Within A
Supernova Explosion
⋆ free neutrons provide exception to increasing
temperature rule
⋆ neutral ---> no Coulomb barrier
⋆ added neutrons can cause beta decay (conversion
of n into p)
⋆ whether beta decay happen before other neutrons
are captured

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2. Neutron Capture
Process
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With high temperatures &
pressures, Neutron Capture
made the formation of heavier
elements possible.

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 Neutron Capture Process & The
Formation Of Elements
⋆ Any number of neutrons can be rapidly added to a
nucleus.
⋆ If you add too many neutrons, the nucleus becomes
unstable, so one or more neutrons undergo beta
decay* to turn into protons to make the nucleus more
stable.
⋆ If one of the neutrons in the nucleus undergoes beta
decay into a proton, the nucleus's atomic number
increases by one.
8 *a neutron is converted to a proton by emitting an electron
 Neutron Capture Process & The
Formation Of Elements
⋆ This continues until a more stable nucleus is
achieved.
⋆ This process repeats over and over again during a
supernova or neutron star merger to produce the
heavy elements found in the universe.

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This makes it possible to
produce an element with any
number of protons and
neutrons, including rare
radioactive elements such as
Nobelium (No250), which has a
½-life of 5 millionths of a
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 Neutron Capture Process
⋆ Has two types
⋆ Rapid process (r-process)  happens in as
fast as a fraction of a second
⋆ Slow process (s-process)  happens in as
slow as a few million years

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 Source: Jonas Lippuner, Los Alamos National Laboratory

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