Turning Stars into Gold

Turning Stars into Gold Ramirez-Ruiz, Enrico Most beginning chemistry students struggling with the complexities and underlying structure of the Periodic Table will simply accept the existence of the approximately 90 stable elements. Rarely does it occur to them that somewhere and in some way, all of the elements had to be synthesized. Such element generation or nucleosynthesis, through transmutation of one element into another, is a crucial byproduct of stellar energy generation. It has occurred since the birth of the first stars in the Galaxy, and without it life on Earth would not be possible. Although the general picture of element formation is well understood, many questions about the nuclear physics processes and particularly the astrophysical details responsible for forming precious elements such as platinum and gold remain to be understood. Presented on September 14, 2015 at 6:00 PM in the Howey Physics Building, Room L3.; Enrico J. Ramirez-Ruiz is a Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of California Santa Cruz. His research focuses on the violent universe with an emphasis on stellar explosions, gamma-ray bursts and accretion phenomena.; Runtime: 59:04 minutes

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