<p>Sure. Iron is not made in significant quantities in the Big Bang, so 100% of the iron on Earth today was synthesized in a star. There's no other source.</p>

<p>It escapes in many ways:</p>

<ul>
<li>Supernovae</li>
<li>Mergers between compact stars like white dwarfs and neutron stars</li>
<li>Stellar winds from more ordinary stars</li>
</ul>

<p>Supernovae are the main source of modern-day iron, with r-process nucleosynthesis during the explosion producing a <em>lot</em> of iron and elements near iron.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-27T18:29:50.253Z
What do you think about the linked question?
Muze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-27T18:36:12.703Z
I don't know enough about meteoritics to speak intelligently -- sorry! (Mineralogy was never a favorite subject.)
Mark Olson
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-28T15:20:59.660Z
Mass spectrometry may tell the tale: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001AGUFM.V21A0959K
Wayfaring Stranger
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-30T07:47:39.073Z
The question isn't asking whether iron is produced in supernovae. You seem to be agreeing with the premise of the question.
ProfRob
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-27T18:24:14.903Z
2019-03-27T18:24:14.903Z
Mark Olson
<p>Since iron is a stars waste could a star that goes Super nova eject pure iron to travel across the galaxy?</p>

<p><a href="https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/35101/99-99-pure-iron-meteorite">https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/35101/99-99-pure-iron-meteorite</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-27T18:41:26.350Z
It already has :-)
Carl Witthoft
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-31T21:01:49.117Z
You link to a closed post (that went through numerous revisions before being [edited down to a non-question](https://web.archive.org/web/20191031205546/https://space.stackexchange.com/posts/35101/revisions)) posted by someone who thinks they have a nearly pure iron meteorite. What is the purpose of the link? Are you asking whether an iron chunk of that mass (a reported 4,902 grams) and that reported purity (99.99%) could be directly ejected by a supernova?
Jacob C.
<supernova><meteor>
Could pure iron from a star make it to Earth?
Muze
# Could pure iron from a star make it to Earth?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-03-27)

Since iron is a stars waste could a star that goes Super nova eject pure iron to travel across the galaxy?

<https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/35101/99-99-pure-iron-meteorite>

**Tags:** supernova, meteor

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It already has :-)  
> **username_2**: You link to a closed post (that went through numerous revisions before being [edited down to a non-question](https://web.archive.org/web/20191031205546/https://space.stackexchange.com/posts/35101/revisions)) posted by someone who thinks they have a nearly pure iron meteorite. What is the purpose of the link? Are you asking whether an iron chunk of that mass (a reported 4,902 grams) and that reported purity (99.99%) could be directly ejected by a supernova?  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-03-27. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

Sure. Iron is not made in significant quantities in the Big Bang, so 100% of the iron on Earth today was synthesized in a star. There's no other source.

It escapes in many ways:

* Supernovae
* Mergers between compact stars like white dwarfs and neutron stars
* Stellar winds from more ordinary stars

Supernovae are the main source of modern-day iron, with r-process nucleosynthesis during the explosion producing a *lot* of iron and elements near iron.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: What do you think about the linked question?  
> **username_3**: I don't know enough about meteoritics to speak intelligently -- sorry! (Mineralogy was never a favorite subject.)  
> **username_4**: Mass spectrometry may tell the tale: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001AGUFM.V21A0959K  
> **username_5**: The question isn't asking whether iron is produced in supernovae. You seem to be agreeing with the premise of the question.  

---

