Cosmic Origin of Elements

The BigBang

•The most widely accepted explanation to the origin of

the universe.
•In 1900s an evidence of the theory was finit

expressed in the early , when

•Edwin Hubble offered an explanation that the

universe is expanding.
•He observed that many stars and galaxies shine with

light shifted toward the red end of the visible

spectrum.
•This phenomenon, called redshift.
 •Isotopes are atoms of an element that have the

same number of protons but different numbers of

neutron
.•Astronomerss believe that a few minutes after the

big bang, the universe was composed of

approximately 75% (by mass) hydrogen, 25%

helium (primarily He), and trace amounts of lithium.

•Big Bang Nucleosyntheses the processes through

which these light elements formed.

Stellar Formation and Evolution
The universe continuously expanded for several

years and the cloud of hydrogen and helium gases

condensed to form stars, including the sun. Over

millions of years, the stars made of hydrogen became

hotter and denser. During this stellar evolution,

nuclear reactions continued, which produced

elements heavier than lithium. The light elements

combined to form atoms of carbon, neon, oxygen,

silicon, and iron.

 Starting from a small, young, yellow star,

successive nuclear reactions occurred until it

became a giant red star. The reactions involved in

the formation of each new element happened in

regions or layers so called fusion shells. As more

elements were produced, new layers added up to

the size of the star until it became a red giant. Stars

are described to have an "onion skin" structure as

they evolved and produced new elements.

Stellar Explosion
As the red giant star exhausted the nuclear fuel of light

elements, its core started to collapse that eventually led to

the explosion of the star. This violent explosion called

supernova released a huge amount of nuclear energy and

produced, through neutron capture and radioactive decay,

other elements heavier than iron.

Neutron capture reactions were either as fast as a

fraction of a second or as slow as a few million years.