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How Old Are Our Atoms – How Many Stars Made Them?



 
 
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Old December 8th 03, 10:13 PM
eric
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Default How Old Are Our Atoms – How Many Stars Made Them?

Is there any way to estimate how long ago the atoms in our solar
system were made and how many generations of stars came before ours?

I'm asking here about atoms like Carbon. The carbon in our solar
system, in our planet, and in our bodies was made in stars like our
own. Right? Is there any way to make even a broad ballpark estimate
of how long ago this carbon was made and by how many stars?

One of the reasons I started thinking about this was that I read
somewhere that a star like our Sun has a lifespan of nearly 10 billion
years. That's more than 50% of the age of the Universe. So what I'm
getting at is that it doesn't seem like there could have been very
many generations of stars before our own began to form. Yet we have a
real abundance of elements here. I'm having trouble understanding how
so many atoms were made so relatively fast. Now, I understand that
larger stars burn out more quickly and that the first stars in the
universe would have truly enormous. That helps a bit. But on the
other hand, some elements like for example Florine and Platinum are
not made by any kind of star, but by really exotic processes like the
collision of two neutron stars.

So, getting back to the question. About how long ago were the atoms
we see today made? Is there any way to estimate such a thing? Maybe
the opposite question is easier to answer. About how long after
Betelgeuse goes supernova will the atoms it has made find their way
into new solar systems?
 




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