• Question: what happens to the material from an exploded star

    Asked by eloise to Heather, Helen, Hugh, Jane, Julian on 11 Nov 2014. This question was also asked by Ewan Ross.
    • Photo: Julian Onions

      Julian Onions answered on 11 Nov 2014:

      The material spreads out through the galaxy and can trigger new stars to be made. This material is rich in heavier elements, so can make planets like the Earth. Therefore our star and planet was once part of an exploding star.
      Some material explodes so fast, it escapes the galaxy altogether and is lost for the purposes of making new stars.

    • Photo: Hugh Osborn

      Hugh Osborn answered on 11 Nov 2014:

      The atoms themselves get recycled. New stars are born from the ashes of dead ones. The heavier elements (which are formed in the death-throws of stars), end up forming planets. Sometimes, in special cases, atoms on wet rocky planets assemble themselves into complex molecules. Those complex molecules inexplicably stick together and form collections of atoms that can reproduce. Those reproducing atom collections change over time, becoming more complex and larger until, in special cases, they will become aware that they are just a collection of atoms with the ability to make clones. Even more rarely, they will form a being known as 284spaa38 and ask questions of other self-aware-atom-collections about what happens to the material from an exploded star.

      Sorry; I’ve answered too many of these, that got a bit weird…

    • Photo: Helen Johnson

      Helen Johnson answered on 12 Nov 2014:

      Haha, I love Hugh’s answer for this!
      Can’t really add anything to the weirdness except direct you to this fabulous image:
      These are examples of a ‘planetary nebula’ – something that’s formed by stars late on in their lifetime. Pretty huh?

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