Iron-56 is the definition of death for stars.
It’s like cyanide.
Once Iron-56 forms in stars, there’s no escape from certain death for them.
Typically, when you have a body as massive as the Sun, it collapses under its own weight, which heats its core and triggers nuclear fusion.
Under this tremendous pressure and temperature, the light elements start undergoing nuclear fusion and release enormous energy, which balances out the stellar collapse due to gravity and keeps the stars alive for a long time.
Well, at least that’s what happens when the body is made up of lighter elements like Hydrogen.
Iron-56 is Different
When Iron-56 fuses, it does not release energy. In fact, Iron-56 consumes energy to undergo nuclear fusion.
So, if you happen to create a huge stellar-sized body made of Iron-56, you have a big problem on your hands.
As it collapses under its own gravitational force, it cannot trigger a net energy-producing nuclear fusion for the life of it.
In other words, there’s no fuel to feed the engine at the core, even under its tremendous heat and pressure.
Just unyielding, certain death for the doomed Iron-56 star.
There is only two potential futures for our pet project now.
What Happens to Our Iron-56 Star?
The Sun has an average density of 1,408 kg/m³.
Even if we could somehow create a body made of Iron-56 “as wide as the Sun,” with uniform density, it would be approximately 5.6 times more massive.
When this massive body collapses under its own mass, it rapidly crushes every Iron-56 atom at the core. Electrons are pushed right into the nucleus of the atom,. Electrons and protons are crushed together and turned into neutrons.
A neutron star core is formed.
The energy from this transformation is released as kinetic energy that ripples across the entirety of the star’s interior.
The outer layers of our Iron-56 star are flung away into space, creating conditions similar to a supernova. What’s left behind is a neutron star with mass less than 2.3 solar masses.
However, on the off chance that the Iron-56 star we created does not have a uniform density, like it’s usually the case with planets and stars, as they tend to have a denser core, we’ll have an initial body that’s much more massive than just 5.6 solar masses.
When it collapses, the core alone could be more massive than 2.3 solar masses.
Well, guess what! A heavier than 2.3 solar masses core is staring at a single fate when it cannot perform nuclear fusion – a black hole!
And here’s the kicker: the sheer implosion would be so fast and complete that it would all be over in a matter of seconds.
Edit 1: The original version presented a single potential future. It has been corrected to two, depending on the mass of the body.
