A new study reveals that carbon and other elements essential to life on Earth take a remarkable journey through the circumgalactic medium before becoming part of us. These elements are created in dying stars and transported through vast currents that connect galaxies, suggesting the carbon in our bodies has likely been part of stars, planets, and even previous life forms.
Carbon is essential to life on Earth. Elements like carbon and oxygen make up around 84% of our bodies. But these elements only exist because stars, like huge furnaces, spawned them into existence during their deaths. The atoms that make up our bodies might have been made in the stars, but according to new research, they likely took an incredible journey before becoming part of us.
A new study, published in Astrophysical Journal Letters, has confirmed that carbon and other star-formed atoms take an circuitous journey. Instead of drifting randomly through space after being created by dying stars, carbon travels through huge currents before being recycled. These currents, called the circumgalactic medium, work like giant conveyer belts, pushing material out of galaxies and pulling it back in to be recycled. The findings suggest that the carbon in our bodies has already been part of stars, planets, moons, and even life forms before becoming part of us. 'Think of the circumgalactic medium as a giant train station: It is constantly pushing material out and pulling it back in,' said lead author Samantha Garza, a University of Washington doctoral candidate. 'The heavy elements that stars make get pushed out of their host galaxy and into the circumgalactic medium through their explosive supernovae deaths, where they can eventually get pulled back in and continue the cycle of star and planet formation.' 'The implications for galaxy evolution, and for the nature of the reservoir of carbon available to galaxies for forming new stars, are exciting,' said co-author Jessica Werk, UW professor and chair of the Department of Astronomy. 'The same carbon in our bodies most likely spent a significant amount of time outside of the galaxy!' The research was conducted using the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescop
CARBON COSMOLOGY GALAXIES STELLAR EVOLUTION LIFE
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