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image credit & license: Wikipedia: Cmglee; data: Jennifer Johnson (OSU)



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


































in apod.nasa.gov/apod