We were discussing the origins of humans and while matter such as carbon and iron are produced in ordinary stars can that matter become part of a planet without the star going through a supernova explosion ?
Stars create heavy elements but can they share them with the rest of the universe ?
Stars create heavy elements but can they share them with the rest of the universe ?
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Remember,
The journey is as important as the origin.
Sure, the atoms that made up the Earth and all creatures upon it came from one of three sources:
* Hydrogen created just after the big bang
* Carbon, Nitrogen and other assorted elements created in stars
* Atoms heavier than Iron which mostly came from violent events such as supernovae.
But you are looking at a gap of five billion years or more from the time these atoms formed to where they are today.
During that time most of the atoms in the Earth's biosphere have been thoroughly cycled countless times through the Earth's crust in a process knows as subduction:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subduction
and through various reservoirs in the Earth's biosphere itself through cycles such as these:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_cycl…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_cy…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorus_…
So all the atoms in your body have at some stage been a part of countless organisms during Earth's history.
Cheers!
The journey is as important as the origin.
Sure, the atoms that made up the Earth and all creatures upon it came from one of three sources:
* Hydrogen created just after the big bang
* Carbon, Nitrogen and other assorted elements created in stars
* Atoms heavier than Iron which mostly came from violent events such as supernovae.
But you are looking at a gap of five billion years or more from the time these atoms formed to where they are today.
During that time most of the atoms in the Earth's biosphere have been thoroughly cycled countless times through the Earth's crust in a process knows as subduction:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subduction
and through various reservoirs in the Earth's biosphere itself through cycles such as these:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_cycl…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_cy…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphorus_…
So all the atoms in your body have at some stage been a part of countless organisms during Earth's history.
Cheers!
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"...iron are produced in ordinary stars..."
Afraid that's not correct : ( Some stars can produce heavier elements up to iron, but not including it.
Virtually all of the heavier elements, including iron, are produced when stars at least 10 times more massive than our own sun explode in supernova events. That explosion blasts all the elements the star has produced during its lifetime, including the supernova, into space where it *might* eventually generate new stars, planets, and life.
It's been estimated that our sun is a 3rd generation star, meaning that it's probably composed of elements from materials blasted into space by two other stellar supernovas.
Afraid that's not correct : ( Some stars can produce heavier elements up to iron, but not including it.
Virtually all of the heavier elements, including iron, are produced when stars at least 10 times more massive than our own sun explode in supernova events. That explosion blasts all the elements the star has produced during its lifetime, including the supernova, into space where it *might* eventually generate new stars, planets, and life.
It's been estimated that our sun is a 3rd generation star, meaning that it's probably composed of elements from materials blasted into space by two other stellar supernovas.
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Stars can only make the heavy elements up to iron, and can distribute them through the solar wind and nova. Those elements heavier than iron can only be made in an environment having the energy density created exclusively by supernova explosions.
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The heavy elements are created in stars then are distributed when the star explodes into a supernova.