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A comment on The periodic table, colour coded by the likely origin of each element.

Re:The periodic table, colour coded by the likely origin of ... by altcognito on Tuesday August 11, 2020 @09:19AM (#24119981)
This table raises a lot of questions for me:

How does a "merged" neutron star, "unmerge?" Or is most of the Au of the universe tied up in neutron stars? And how does that work given that neutron stars are mostly... neutrons?

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Re:The periodic table, colour coded by the likely origin of ... by nwallin on Tuesday August 11, 2020 @01:38PM (#24123177)
A neutron star "merger" is a collision between two of the hottest, densest objects in the universe that are still objects. These collisions are incredibly messy and energetic. Stuff gets blown everywhere - a lot of stuff.

Once freed and blown out into space, the remaining neutronium is incredibly unstable without the intense gravitational pressures holding it together. It will rapidly decay into relatively stable material.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:The periodic table, colour coded by the likely origin of ... by sgt101 on Tuesday August 11, 2020 @09:24AM (#24120024)
When they merge they do a helluva lot of unmerging at the same time.

Like, seen across the universe unmerge action.

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