Scientists uncover how rare elements are made in space
科學家揭示太空稀有元素的形成機制
Have you ever wondered where the gold in your jewelry or the uranium in our power plants comes from?
你是否曾好奇你珠寶中的黃金，或是發電廠裡的鈾是從哪裡來的嗎？
While regular stars fuse light elements, they stop at iron.
雖然一般的恆星會融合輕元素，但它們在達到鐵（ㄊㄧㄝˇ）元素時就會停止。
Creating heavier elements, a process called nucleosynthesis, requires much more energy.
創造更重的元素，即所謂的「核合成」（ㄏㄜˊㄏㄜˊㄔㄥˊ）過程，需要更多的能量。
Scientists act as cosmic archaeologists, studying the chemistry of ancient stars to understand this mystery.
科學家扮演宇宙考古學家的角色，研究古老恆星的化學成分以理解這個謎團。
When two dense stars collide, they create a kilonova, scattering heavy elements across the galaxy.
當兩顆高密度恆星相撞時，它們會產生「千新星」（ㄑㄧㄢㄒㄧㄣㄒㄧㄢ），將重元素散佈到整個銀河系。
More recently, researchers have discovered that some extremely heavy elements may even split through fission, helping to balance the abundance patterns we see today.
最近，研究人員發現一些極重的元素甚至可能透過分裂（ㄈㄣㄌㄧㄝˋ）作用而分離，這有助於平衡我們今日所見的豐度模式。
Every atom of gold or platinum you possess is a relic of an ancient, explosive star death that occurred billions of years ago.
你所擁有的每一顆金原子或鉑（ㄅㄛˊ）原子，都是數十億年前一場古老且爆炸性的恆星死亡遺留下來的遺跡。
