We are all made of stars...

TheThinker · February 28, 2014, 05:34:28 PM

Hello ! Just a (naive ?) question here :

I've read that the atoms that are now in our body were originally formed inside stars that exploded, and by doing that the same atoms were "enabled" to "make" us.
Looking at the night sky, one sees thousands of stars, that are no longer really there, since their light reaches us now, but they can be millions of light years away from us.

So, could it be that we can actually see the light of a star that no longer exists, but contained atoms that are now parts of our bodies ? In other words : Can we still "see" where parts of us came from ?

Thanks !

Plu · February 28, 2014, 05:36:36 PM

Nope. Since the atoms cannot travel faster than light, they can't get here before the visual information that the star has died. Or at least, that's what I'd think. Since common sense doesn't apply in physics maybe one of our more informed physics people has a different story :P

Also:
http://zenpencils.com/comic/42-neil-deg ... ding-fact/

Because I still like promoting this guy 8-)

Shiranu · February 28, 2014, 05:40:35 PM

That's actually a pretty cool concept, though like Plu said it doesn't seem to work unless (like alot of physics) it goes all sorts of crazy.

Moriarty · February 28, 2014, 06:15:40 PM

Quote from: "Plu"Nope. Since the atoms cannot travel faster than light, they can't get here before the visual information that the star has died. Or at least, that's what I'd think. Since common sense doesn't apply in physics maybe one of our more informed physics people has a different story :P

Also:
http://zenpencils.com/comic/42-neil-deg ... ding-fact/

Because I still like promoting this guy 8-)

I like Neil but I still like Mikio too and even Amy Mainzer who has the additional advantage of being rather cute~

The other problem with the question is that those atoms/elements came from 1st and 2nd generation stars that only burned for millions/hundreds of millions of years over 13 billion years ago before going super nova. Not certain on how far the WMAP (13.5 billion yrs I think it was.) goes but it's borderline to those so I doubt the light would still be visible even if it were still around.

Hijiri Byakuren · February 28, 2014, 07:57:38 PM

We are also made of something that is big and went bang. :)

The Skeletal Atheist · February 28, 2014, 08:45:27 PM

Quote from: "Hijiri Byakuren"We are also made of something that is big and went bang. :)

Hey now this is a family board! Cool your jets pal!

Hijiri Byakuren · February 28, 2014, 10:21:15 PM

Quote from: "The Skeletal Atheist"
Quote from: "Hijiri Byakuren"We are also made of something that is big and went bang. :)
Hey now this is a family board! Cool your jets pal!

Get your brain out of the gutter before it gathers sludge. :P

AllPurposeAtheist · February 28, 2014, 11:01:26 PM

Well I'll say it. I'm made from lust! Dirty, filthy, disgusting lust. My mom and dad did the horizontal dance and 9 months later my mom cussed me out of her body and probably cussed my dad too.

Atheon · February 28, 2014, 11:03:03 PM

The star(s) that exploded to form the solar system (after the remnants collided with a molecular cloud of hydrogen and triggered its collapse) did so about 5 billion years ago, but only in our immediate stellar neighborhood (likely less than 50 light years away). Also, most of the individual stars we can see with our naked eye are only in the range of about 4 light years to a few thousand light years away.

And in any case, light from stars travels at the speed of light, while matter ejected from an exploding star travels slower than that.

So as cool as the idea my be, the answer is "No, we can't see the stars that made us." However, there are apparently remains of the original stellar cloud that are still detectable... but I'd have to google it and I don't have the time right now.

stromboli · March 01, 2014, 01:51:52 AM

Every time I flush the toilet I'm going to remind myself that I'm made from stars.

TheThinker · March 02, 2014, 09:40:14 AM

Thank you for your answers !

SGOS · March 02, 2014, 10:13:24 AM

I haven't read all the responses, but here is my take. Yes, I think we are made of stars. The first and only elements created in the big bang were hydrogen and helium. The rest of the elements could only form in the core of stars where sufficiently large amounts of heat and energy were available to create the rest of the periodic table. At least this is the limit of what I know from only one source than I have read.

It's not like these far flung stars are flinging new atoms through the universe and constantly restocking our supply of atoms necessary for life. But they were formed in the stars. Those atoms we currently use have been around for longer than the time it takes light to travel from the farthest reaches of the universe. I presume those atoms we use are from a time when things weren't so far away. Obviously they can't be older than 13.8 billion years, but they don't need to be. All that is necessary is that we are lucky enough to have a small amount from ancient nearby stars.

Edit: I should not have said newer atoms have been around for longer than the time it takes light to reach us from the farthest points of the universe. That would be impossible, of course. But the rest of the argument should still make sense. Well, at least to me.

SGOS · March 02, 2014, 10:22:29 AM

Quote from: "Atheon"The star(s) that exploded to form the solar system (after the remnants collided with a molecular cloud of hydrogen and triggered its collapse) did so about 5 billion years ago, but only in our immediate stellar neighborhood (likely less than 50 light years away). Also, most of the individual stars we can see with our naked eye are only in the range of about 4 light years to a few thousand light years away.

And in any case, light from stars travels at the speed of light, while matter ejected from an exploding star travels slower than that.

So as cool as the idea my be, the answer is "No, we can't see the stars that made us." However, there are apparently remains of the original stellar cloud that are still detectable... but I'd have to google it and I don't have the time right now.

Had I read all the responses before I posted, I would have just pointed to this post and saved some time.

Deidre32 · March 02, 2014, 02:23:40 PM

This is very intriguing! Going with this, why aren't more planets similar to earth, then? Why would our planet only be able to sustain human life? Seeing that this wasn't an ''ordered'' but rather random occurence. Not sure if my question makes sense? :-k

Moriarty · March 02, 2014, 02:30:22 PM

Quote from: "Deidre32"This is very intriguing! Going with this, why aren't more planets similar to earth, then? Why would our planet only be able to sustain human life? Seeing that this wasn't an ''ordered'' but rather random occurence. Not sure if my question makes sense? :-k

Dee, they have found rocky planets in the Universe like Earth, most have been bigger and determining the makeup is a little difficult at this time but it will happen eventually. The count on planets discovered outside our own solar system is well over 2,000 now. Most are like Jupiter and Saturn but only because they're larger and easier to find than those like Earth. Looking for Earth like planets is looking for one particular needle in a stack of needles inside a crate of needles. :P

As I stated earlier the existence of life elsewhere goes beyond the drake equation and now also includes a planets place in a stable region of a galaxy, a stabilizing moon and even tectonic activity or so the theory now goes.

News:

We are all made of stars...