Believe it or not, we are all made of stardust! Actually I kind of like the idea! It makes me feel special to know that I am made of the same stuff that those pretty, shiny things up in sky are made of. :~)
Knowing the hows and whys of the universe we live in from the smallest reaches of the micro can help everyone do a better job of dealing with and understanding the macro we live in every day. So, please read on, I believe you will enjoy it.
What is a star? Our big example is our sun, the big fiery ball up there that is 93 million miles away. When you look up at the sky at night almost all of the lights you see are stars. Some are very distant galaxies and some are other things.
Stars are amazing things. They start out as a big cloud of mostly hydrogen gas and a little helium gas, and maybe some other elements. As gravity moves on the cloud it starts to swirl and compress. As it compresses the temperate and pressure at the center of it increase until it gets to the point where nuclear fusion starts up.
Nuclear fusion is the process whereby atoms and molecules are slammed into each other so strongly that they fuse together to form a new element. The most common fusion in stars is hydrogen, with one proton and electron, being slammed into another hydrogen atom and it forms helium, with 2 protons in it’s nucleus. During this process some of the matter involved is converted into energy in the form or heat and light and other radiation, just like what you see in the explosion of a hydrogen bomb.
Scientists believe that at the big bang, the origin of the whole universe, most of the hydrogen there is came into existence, as well as some of the helium. There were no elements heavier than that at that time.
All of the heavier elements we know of where made after that and they were made in the center of stars as they used nuclear fusion to put the heavier elements together by fusing lighter ones into heavier ones.
Our sun is a hot place! It is over 27 million degrees at the center. But compared to some other stars it is cool! The heaviest element that our star can make is iron, which has only 26 protons in it’s nucleus.
There are 92 naturally occurring elements that we know of, with uranium having 92 protons in it’s nucleus.
So if our sun can only make an element, ( iron), with 26 protons, where did all the heavier stuff come from?
Scientists believe that what happened is that billions of years ago, in this corner of the universe, there was a huge sun and it blew up in what is called a super nova. That is star talk for a great big explosion. Stars are real nice, but many times they end up exploding at the end of their lives. When they do explode it creates an environment of greater temperatures and pressures so that the other elements we know of, heavier than iron, can be produced by the explosion.
So, we had that big bang, right here in our neighborhood and it threw star dust all over the place and the whole process I described above about the gas cloud pulling in and compressing started where our solar system is today.
Our bodies are composed of the elements we find here on earth. Lots of different ones and combinations that form the chemistry of life.
When you were conceived your parents formed a single cell with the genetic code, ( like computer code), that said, ” Find me water, iron, zinc, and lots of other elements and compounds so I can make a human being.”
Because the star dust with all those elements was right here, under our feet, the genetic code followed the instructions and made YOU!
So you see, we really are all made of star dust! We may not all be able to go to Hollywood and become stars, but we most certainly are made of the dust! :~)
So go ahead and feel just a little bit better about your self! You are Special! It took a great big star to bring you to life on earth!
Thank you
Dave Briggs We are all Made of Stardust Christian Tech and Science Blog