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Credit & Copyright: Jennifer Johnson
(OSU)
Explanation:
The hydrogen in your body, present in every molecule of water, came from the
Big Bang.
There are no other
appreciable sources of
hydrogen in the universe.
The carbon in your body was made by
nuclear fusion
in the interior of stars, as was the
oxygen.
Much of the iron in your body was made during
supernovas of stars that
occurred
long ago and far away.
The gold in your jewelry was likely made from
neutron stars during collisions that may have been visible as short-duration
gamma-ray bursts
or gravitational wave events.
Elements like phosphorus and copper are
present in our bodies in only small amounts but are
essential to the functioning of all known
life.
The featured periodic table is
color
coded to indicate
humanity's best guess as to the
nuclear origin of all
known elements.
The sites of nuclear creation
of some
elements,
such as
copper,
are not really well known and are continuing topics of observational and computational
research.
Discovery + Outreach:
Graduate student research position open for APOD
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: nucleosynthesis
Publications with words: nucleosynthesis
See also: