We are Star Stuff: Searching for Oxygen All Over the Universe
On the tiniest scales, matter on Earth is made up of atoms. These atoms are so tiny, you can’t even see them with powerful microscopes. There are all different kinds of atoms: hydrogen, helium, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, iron, nickel, silver, gold, and platinum, to name a few. And each kind of atom has different properties. In my talk, I will explain what atoms are, and where they come from. Some atoms, like hydrogen and helium, are produced within the first three minutes of cosmic time (i.e., within 3 minutes after the universe comes into existence). Others, like oxygen and iron, are made inside stars and even explosions that mark the deaths of some stars. I will explain the cosmic origins of different kinds of atoms and the ways in which astronomers are finding these different types of atoms across the entire universe, even in the most distant galaxies.
Recommended grade range for this talk: 3rd-5th
