Last year, scientists announced they'd found a rare type of plutonium at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. This plutonium is believed to have come from an exploding star. NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce ...

Supernovae can generate a lot of heavier atoms, but not plutonium, as far as anyone knows. A lot of energy, generating a lot of neutrons, would be required. Hubble Space Telescope-Image of Supernova. ...

Common chemical elements are created in stars like our sun. But heavy elements, like iron, are thought to form in massive stars that explode and spew material — though it might be more complicated.