Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2020 August 9

                           The Origin of Elements
   Image Credit & License: Wikipedia: Cmglee; Data: 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.

                  Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
                       Tomorrow's picture: leaking sky
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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