How were elements heavier than iron originally formed?
1) “There are a number of astrophysical processes which are believed to be responsible for nucleosynthesis in the universe. The majority of these occur within the hot matter inside stars. The successive nuclear fusion processes which occur inside stars are known as hydrogen burning (via the proton-proton chain or the CNO cycle), helium burning, carbon burning, neon burning, oxygen burning and silicon burning. These processes are able to create elements up to iron and nickel, the region of the isotopes having the highest binding energy per nucleon. Heavier elements can be assembled within stars by a neutron capture process known as the s process or in explosive environments, such as supernovae, by a number of processes. Some of the more important of these include the r process which involves rapid neutron captures, the rp process which involves rapid proton captures and the p process (sometimes known as the gamma process) which involves photodisintegration of existing nuclei.” Source an
