Did Gold Come from a Supernova?

Gold is the ultimate recyclable product on Earth.  Gold is a metal which is a pure element. It has an atomic number of 79, making it one of the heaviest naturally-occurring metals. It is soft, heavy, and yellow in color. Gold has a number of properties which make it ideal for making jewelry: it looks nice, it is soft, ductile, malleable, and it doesn’t tarnish.

Gold has been used for jewelry since metals were first discovered about 6,500 years ago.  Jewelry you are wearing today might be made from gold jewelry found in ancient Egypt.  It also has been used for centuries in coins, statues, and industry.  It’s valuable!  Don’t throw it away.  Recycle it by selling it, or keep it.

But where did Gold come from?  While “gold mines” would not be an incorrect answer, this blog post addresses the bigger picture.

It is the commonly-held conclusion among scientists and astronomers that gold came from a neutron-rich supernova that exploded and formed our solar system, scattering the neutron-rich heavy element gold throughout the galaxy.  Let me explain how this works.

A supernova is basically an exploding star.  After a few million years of generating energy by fusing light elements into heavier ones (hydrogen to helium, helium to carbon, and so on), the core runs out of fuel. Iron builds up in the very center of the star, and no star in the Universe has what it takes to fuse iron.  At some point, so much iron builds up that it cannot support its own weight, and the ball of iron collapses.

A Type II supernova results from the death of a single star much more massive than the sun. When such a star begins to burn out, its core quickly collapses. Tremendous energy is suddenly released in the form of neutrinos (a type of subatomic particle) and electromagnetic radiation (electric and magnetic energy). This energy causes the star to erupt into a supernova.

Supernovae can also leave behind different types of objects. After some supernova explosions, there remains a small, dense star composed mainly of neutrons or perhaps of elementary particles called quarks. Such a star is called a neutron star. Rapidly-rotating, highly-magnetized neutron stars are called pulsars. After other explosions, an invisible object called a black hole may be left behind. A black hole has such powerful gravitational force that not even light can escape it. In some cases, no object of any kind remains after a supernova explosion.

Scientists believe that supernovae created all the heavier elements, such as iron, gold, and uranium, that are found on earth and have been detected in objects outside the solar system. Also, there is evidence that some high-energy cosmic rays originate in supernovae.

12 Comments on Did Gold Come from a Supernova?

mike mann syr.


The universe is golden

Some1


Well if you read any decent source about fusion in stars, you’d know that the fusion inside stars produces energy when fusing into elements as heavy as iron. Stars can even produce limited quantities of elements heavier than iron in their final stages although that consumes energy rather than producing it. It is the accumulation of enough iron in the core of a star that causes the supernova, so your last paragraph is misleading.

Excellent Argument Against Meeting Alien Lifeforms: The Metal Dilemma « Dark Views


[...] dependent in the so-called rare earth elements. They are rare because of how they are created: When a star dies violently. Each atom of gold, silver or copper was once created in an exploding star because the normal [...]

Bruce Johnson


How do we get so far removed from creation when trying to explain the universe? I don’t get it.
This is a whimsical theory for how gold was created… We have 238 elements in the periodic table, right?
Wouldn’t you think that if a star is fusing elements together that a bunch of them would be other elements instead of marching in a straight line and making just a few of them?
What is controlling how they are being transformed, and why are we not seeing all the elements we know of being created in some random stages?
How can we call this science? Who has actually observed fusion, repeated it, and made sound judgement for all to review?
I love it when articles like this say the word “perhaps”. That means you don’t know…. right?
So why do we eat this up and think that the people who dream this up are science gods… when really there is no foundation to stand upon?
Sounds like space age alchemy to me… still unproven.

Can anyone in this world heat up hyrogen and make it into helium yet? And helium to carbon, and carbon to iron?

I know we can make carbon into diamonds… but that is a molecular change… not an atomic one. In biology, that would be like mating a wolf with a dog… quite possible and has been done… but you can’t mate a dog with a horse and get a giraffe…. it won’t work.

So why do we think laws of nature can be broken with enough heat and pressure? nonsense.

Robert Smith


I liked the article so I think alot of questions and statements here need to be addressed…

“How do we get so far removed from creation when trying to explain the universe?”

Research, I believe is how society has began to move away from older theories and onto new ones. You likely find it insulting to have creationism called a theory, sorry.

“This is a whimsical theory for how gold was created…”

A universe we have today being the result of time and gravity is much more believable to me than a god having created the universe (never mind how the god came into existence)

“We have 238 elements in the periodic table, right?”

118 elements on the periodic table currently (more are theorized to exist however)

“Wouldn’t you think that if a star is fusing elements together that a bunch of them would be other elements instead of marching in a straight line and making just a few of them?”

I am no astrophysicist, I must trust the guys that CAN do the math for that much gravity, at least until I am one, apparently the consensus is that of this article

“What is controlling how they are being transformed, and why are we not seeing all the elements we know of being created in some random stages?”

Immense gravity fuses the elements together if I understand correctly

Apparently the math does not allow for anything heavier than iron to fuse

“How can we call this science?”

The bulk of the scientists in the field currently have consensus with the theories involved

“Who has actually observed fusion, repeated it, and made sound judgement for all to review?”

Look in the night sky, observe fusion

You cannot repeat fusion to my knowledge without the mass/gravity of a star

Observable data on fusion jives with the math, for instance spectrum yields element content. ‘Sound judgement’ is relative to the judges, I’m sure may astrophysicists have no issue with articles like these

“I love it when articles like this say the word “perhaps”. That means you don’t know…. right?”

I think its a sign of being open to competing theories and not claiming their own to be the best theory, I know I cant say Im 100% sure about anything, especially what I know to be true of the universe having to rely on all these other people to do the math for me, for all I know you could have the correct theories or theory of how all the elements came about

“So why do we eat this up and think that the people who dream this up are science gods… when really there is no foundation to stand upon?”

Im pretty sure this is all built on math you can do yourself, to calculate the same conclusions using gravity & mass, I dont consider writers of these articles to be science gods, just good writes that share my interests. Kip Thorne would be an example of a science god to me. Many theories cannot currently be proven, not unlike your own

“Can anyone in this world heat up hyrogen and make it into helium yet? And helium to carbon, and carbon to iron?”

The first thermonuclear fusion reactions to take place on Earth occurred at Eniwetok Atoll on October 31, 1952. Although I don’t think we’ve fused anything besides hydrogen at this point, I think thats probably a good thing considering the amount of force it took back then to fuse hydrogen

“I know we can make carbon into diamonds… but that is a molecular change… not an atomic one. In biology, that would be like mating a wolf with a dog… quite possible and has been done… but you can’t mate a dog with a horse and get a giraffe…. it won’t work.”

As long as were talking about whats possible genetically, how we discuss how all humans supposedly decended from only two people?

“So why do we think laws of nature can be broken with enough heat and pressure? nonsense.”

Who thought that? From what I understand, the current known laws of nature work all the way back to just after the first moments after the big bang (is theorized to have occurred

Thomas Y.


Man, Bruce Johnson, you’re such an idiot.

Joe Desravines


Who do you think created the world?

Joe Desravines


There is only one God,and he is the creator of everything.

P Bullock


Joe Desravines i hope your joking

lance l


Its painful to hear some people speak their minds. Mariot Robert Morison owes two of you a shot in the gut. Science is the key to future development and evolution of human thought and experience. Why limit yourself to one view when the number of possibilities doubles each day. I want to be able to consider the entire universe and its wonder when I think of home. Not just this beautiful rock on which we all sit.

Charles P. Simkovich


Well now I think that we, the earth, humans, animals etc. are just a science project for some juvenile “being” that create, study and play with “universes” as part of their curriculum. Kind of like a giant ant farm in glass that some children made, studied and played with yrs ago.

Joseph Santoro


Anyone who STILL believes in a all knowing ,all creating, all seeing, supreme being….must still believe the earth is flat and is the center of our solar system

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