Astronomers were able to identify a “golden star” located next to the sun from the Milky Way, through a study led by University of Michigan astronomer Ian Roderer, in which 65 elements were detected in the star “HD 222925”, 42 of which are heavy elements listed along the part bottom of the periodic table.
“This is a record for any object outside the solar system, and what makes this star so unique is that it contains a very high percentage of the elements listed along the bottom two-thirds of the periodic table,” Roderer said. “We even discovered gold as well, and these elements were made through a process Rapid neutron capture.
This process, also called “r-process”, begins with the presence of lighter elements such as iron, and then quickly neutrons are added to the nuclei of the lighter elements. This results in heavier elements such as selenium, silver, tellurium, platinum, gold and thorium, which is the type found in a star (HD 222925). They are all rarely detected in stars, according to astronomers.
