ShareUniverse Development - Creating Elements
In 1054, a star appeared that was so bright that it was visible in broad daylight for a short period of time and was visible at night for the following six months. Accounts were recorded by different cultures all over the world. It was later determined that this was a supernova, or an exploding star. In the past they were called "new stars" or "guest stars" because they appear suddenly and aren't usually seen for a very long period of time. The remnants of that 1054 supernova are seen by looking at the Crab Nebula with special equipment. A nebula is a cloud of gas and dust formed by a supernova.
All atoms have a built-in force of repulsion. To overcome this force of repulsion, high pressure and high temperatures are required to fuse atoms together. The process of fusing atoms together is known as nuclear fusion. As we speak, for example, our sun is constantly fusing three hydrogen atoms to form one helium atom, a process that releases large amounts of energy. All atoms (with the exception of hydrogen, some helium, and some lithium) are formed on the inside of stars by this process.
In a future Sci-ber text page, you will explore the different life cycles of stars. Hopefully you will recognize the relationship between mass of the star and mass of the elements produced. In other words, when a star has a large mass, it exerts a larger pressure on the atoms that make it up, and therefore heavier elements are able to form. Additionally, you noticed that only the most massive stars become supernovas. During a supernova, there is so much energy released that the high temperatures will fuse heavier elements. So, the more massive a star, the more massive the elements that it produces are. The heavy elements found on Earth are most likely from a very massive star. Light elements are therefore produced by lighter stars in the universe.
