Fact of the Day: 19/01/2021

Have you ever asked yourself where the elements displayed on the periodic table come from? The Big Bang created hydrogen and helium (plus some trace amounts of lithium and hydrogen and helium isotopes). With the exception of those synthesized in human laboratories, all the other elements of the periodic table (the naturally-occurring elements) were created by stars – either when they were alive or when they died. Stellar nuclear fusion produces elements all the way up to iron, though only for the most massive stars. The remainder of the heavier elements are actually created during the massively energetic supernova explosions that mark the end of a high-mass star’s life. Since most of the elements that make us up come from stars… we are star stuff!

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