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   Corey S Powell (coreyspowell@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 29-Jan-2025 04:29:42 JST Corey S Powell

   You've probably heard that "we are stardust," but this graphic breaks it down further & tells you what kind of stars your dust came from--and which elements didn't come from stars at all.

   https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/13873/ #science #nature #space

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     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Wednesday, 29-Jan-2025 14:54:19 JST clacke

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     • Cynthia

     @cynthea All of it is.

     @coreyspowell

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     Cynthia (cynthea@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 29-Jan-2025 14:54:20 JST Cynthia

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     @coreyspowell
     I've known I came from stardust, but hadn't really considered hydrogen an ancestor!!! Ha

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     Jan Katins (jankatins@fosstodon.org)'s status on Wednesday, 29-Jan-2025 14:54:25 JST Jan Katins

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     @coreyspowell So at least three stars died to give life to me...?

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     Corey S Powell (coreyspowell@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 29-Jan-2025 14:54:28 JST Corey S Powell

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     • Mike Perham :sidekiq:

     @getajobmike

     A neutron star merger produces a black hole, but also a significant amount of ejected matter. We know that a lot of stuff must be shot out because astronomers can see radiation from this material, which is observed as a kilonova.

     See, eg: https://www.psu.edu/news/eberly-college-science/story/merging-neutron-stars-unfolding-story-kilonova-told-x-rays

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     Mike Perham :sidekiq: (getajobmike@ruby.social)'s status on Wednesday, 29-Jan-2025 14:54:28 JST Mike Perham :sidekiq:

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     @coreyspowell never heard of “kilonova”, thank you! And what a fantastic image, almost looks like an artist’s conception.

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     Mike Perham :sidekiq: (getajobmike@ruby.social)'s status on Wednesday, 29-Jan-2025 14:54:29 JST Mike Perham :sidekiq:

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     @coreyspowell Huh, I wonder how does “merging neutron stars" lead to further elements. Shouldn't it form a black hole?

     clacke repeated this.
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     publius (publius@mastodon.sdf.org)'s status on Wednesday, 29-Jan-2025 14:54:44 JST publius

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     • Paul Houle

     @UP8 @coreyspowell

     Plutonium-244 has a long enough half-life that it has been found in cosmic dust, generally thought to be from supernova remnants. It's been used in attempts to determine the chronology of seabed sediment deposition. As far as practical chemistry is concerned, however, it's strictly a man-made element.

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     Paul Houle (up8@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 29-Jan-2025 14:54:45 JST Paul Houle

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     @coreyspowell I thought they discovered plutonium in New Hampshire pitchblende because of U238 getting the occasional neutron; did they see Pu in the spectrum of some astrophysical object? I can't see very much getting here from a neutron star collision

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     John-Mark Gurney (encthenet@flyovercountry.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Jan-2025 01:48:51 JST John-Mark Gurney

     in reply to

     @coreyspowell With this graphic, I just realized that over half that atoms (by count, not by weight) that make you up are not star dust, but from the big bang (hydrogen). (~50% water by weight, 2/3rds of that is hydrogen, remaining 50% is unlikely to match the same number of oxygen atoms)

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     GoinFawr (goinfawr@mstdn.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Jan-2025 14:08:48 JST GoinFawr

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     @coreyspowell
     "No one can stop us now, because we are all made of stars" - Moby

     https://soundcloud.com/moby/we-are-all-made-of-stars-1

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     clacke (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Thursday, 30-Jan-2025 15:06:14 JST clacke

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     • Codeschubse

     @Codeschubse @coreyspowell I say aluminium because that's what I grew up saying, but: platinum, molybdenum, lanthanum. There are two conventions and picking one is arbitrary, even if one is dominant.

     The British coiner of the word picked -um and the British, US and global chemical communities switched it to -ium, only to be thwarted by *shakes fist* Weeebsteeer.

     Linux Walt (@lnxw37j1) {3EB165E0-5BB1-45D2-9E7D-93B31821F864} likes this.
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     Codeschubse (codeschubse@ohai.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Jan-2025 15:06:16 JST Codeschubse

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     @coreyspowell Of you write Aluminum, you also have to write Uranum, Plutonum and Americum, or the rest of the world will rightfully ridicule you. At least be consistent.