[MtnClimber]

WTH? I was taught that core-collapse Type II supernovae created elements heavier than lithium. When did the conventional wisdom shift to neutron star mergers?

Normal fusion in stars can produce elements up to iron.

[Intar]

Normal fusion in stars can produce elements up to iron.

Current theory is heavier elements than iron are produced at the instant before the formation of a black hole in a supermassive star. Most of the heavier elements fall into the black hole, with a small percentage ejected via the relativistic jet that forms inside the core and bursts out of the out layers of the star's poles and out into space, forming a hypernova.

[Spirochete]

Normal fusion in stars can produce elements up to iron.

That's true,during the normal course of the massive star's evolution. Iron is the ash product of the final stage.

But the implosion/explosion of the star's collapse creates heavier elements.