WD> Perhaps one should regard neutron stars as giant nuclei.
A better way to view this is: replace the word "stable" with "stable under pressure." See, I would claim that it is an illusion that there is no stable nucleus with atomic weight 1000. Actually, if you put it under enough pressure, then it would presumably become stable. The only problem is humans have no hope of sustaining pressures that large and the only known way to reach them is inside a neutron star.
This raises a question that seems by comparison real. Might there be enough pressure deep inside an ordinary star to produce elements that aren't stable in free space? If so, would that give rise to a nuclear chemistry that might have effects observable from outside the star? Whit