Stars from Craddle to Grave: Powerful Factories of Chemical Elements

Abstract

The first elements of the Periodic Table – hydrogen, helium and partly lithium - appeared in the first seconds after the birth of the Universe. The first stars “gathered” from these materials are the natural factories of the synthesis of heavier elements, not only throughout their lives, but even during their death process, during Supernova explosions. Supernova explosions, in their turn, are powerful factories for the production of heavy elements. Modern instruments allow scientists not only to register such events, but also to determine how many different chemical elements were formed during such events. The recent discovery of the merging neutron stars and subsequent studies of their afterglow allowed us to clarify the process of formation of superheavy elements in the Universe up to the gold and uranium. Thus, astrophysical observations give scientists the most important information about the “production rates” of elements in the nature, and their abundance in the Universe.