Astronomy Stack Exchange
Astronomy Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [elemental-abundances]

Questions on how frequent certain chemical elements are on or in a celestial object.

The abundance of the chemical elements (short: elemental-abundance) is a measure of the occurrence of the chemical elements relative to all other elements in a given environment.

Related:

Further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundance_of_the_chemical_elements

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Why is there a zig-zag in elemental abundances?

In this answer to Is lithium considered a metal in astronomy? this image from Wikimedia of the abundances of elements in the universe was shared: Credit: Wikimedia Commons user 28bytes, under C.C.-by-S.A.-3.0. I thought it was fascinating that…
curiousdannii
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What are the chances of finding an element in the outer solar system that otherwise can't be found on earth?

So I had this idea for writing a science fiction story about the discovery of a material that enables extremely high accelerations and I want to know this to set up a plot.
user50752
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Why are certain elements so common?

I understand why hydrogen and helium are the most common elements in the universe. I also understand iron, because that's where stellar fusion stops. But why are (specifically) oxygen, carbon and neon more common than iron? I would expect iron to…
Henry Stone
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