concept

Type Ia supernova

The thermonuclear detonation of a white dwarf that has gained enough mass to ignite, tearing itself apart and leaving no remnant. About half the galaxy's iron comes from this channel, and it arrives late: a white dwarf must be made first, then wait. The iron in Pandora's core, and in the blood of everything walking on its surface, is mostly the ash of exploded stellar corpses.