The precursors of heavy elements might arise in the plasma underbellies of swollen stars or in smoldering stellar corpses.

An atom consists of a heavy center, called the nucleus, made of particles called protons and neutrons. An atom has lighter ...

Many heavy atoms form from a supernova explosion, the remnants of which are shown in this image. NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage ...

Hydrogen fusion works in the opposite way by forming “paperbag” nuclei out of smaller units. Deuterium (heavy hydrogen), for instance, has one proton and one neutron in its nucleus.

Because while India’s summer heatwaves may be over, the planet’s heat continues to speak through many tongues.Let’s start at the source. The Sun is made up largely of hydrogen, and a little helium.

When two hydrogen nuclei are close, even for this short duration, Gregori said, "the strong but short-range attractive nuclear force dominates over the tendency of like charges to repel, ...

Even when they are in their lowest possible electronic energy level (i.e., the electron's ground state), these two nuclei can still rotate and vibrate, producing a wide range of rovibrational states.