Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
In astrophysics, stellar nucleosynthesis is the creation of chemical elements by nuclear fusion reactions within stars. Stellar nucleosynthesis has occurred since the original creation of hydrogen, helium and lithium during the Big Bang. As a predictive theory, it yields accurate estimates of the observed abundances of the elements.
The products of stellar nucleosynthesis are generally dispersed into the interstellar gas through mass loss episodes and the stellar winds of low mass stars. The mass loss events can be witnessed today in the planetary nebulae phase of low-mass star evolution, and the explosive ending of stars, called supernovae , of those with more than eight ...
The x-process in cosmic rays is the primary means of nucleosynthesis for the five stable isotopes of lithium, beryllium, and boron. [3] As the proton–proton chain reaction cannot proceed beyond 4 He due to the unbound nature of 5 He and 5 Li, [ 4 ] and the triple-alpha process skips over all species between 4 He and 12 C, these elements are ...
The final stage in the stellar nucleosynthesis process is the silicon-burning process that results in the production of the stable isotope iron-56. [209] Any further fusion would be an endothermic process that consumes energy, and so further energy can only be produced through gravitational collapse.
Fusing with additional helium nuclei can create heavier elements in a chain of stellar nucleosynthesis known as the alpha process, but these reactions are only significant at higher temperatures and pressures than in cores undergoing the triple-alpha process.
Stellar nucleosynthesis in stars or their remnants creates almost all naturally occurring chemical elements heavier than lithium. Stellar mass loss or supernova explosions return chemically enriched material to the interstellar medium. These elements are then recycled into new stars.
The ultimate source of cosmic dust are stars in which the elements – out of which stardust is composed of – are produced by fusion of hydrogen and helium or by explosive nucleosynthesis in supernovae. This stardust from various stellar sources is mixed in the interstellar medium and thermally processed in star forming regions. Solar System ...
Stardust itself (SUNOCONs and AGB grains that come from specific stars) is but a modest fraction of the condensed cosmic dust, forming less than 0.1% of the mass of total interstellar solids. The high interest in presolar grains derives from new information that it has brought to the sciences of stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis.