                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2026 September 14
   A chart is shown which a version of the periodic table of the elements.
     Each element has a thumbnail image that indicates how it was first
    created in the universe. Please see the explanation for more detailed
                                information.

                        Where Your Elements Came From
                       Image Credit: NASA's GSFC, SVS

   Explanation: The hydrogen in your body and present in every molecule of
   water came from the Big Bang. There are no other appreciable sources of
   hydrogen in the universe. The carbon in your body was made by nuclear
   fusion in the interior of stars, as was the oxygen. Much of the iron in
   your body was made during supernovas of stars that occurred long ago
   and far away. The gold in your jewelry was likely made from neutron
   stars during collisions that may have been visible as short-duration
   gamma-ray bursts or gravitational wave events. Elements like phosphorus
   and copper are present in our bodies in only small amounts but are
   essential to the functioning of all known life. The featured periodic
   table is color coded to indicate humanity's best guess as to the
   nuclear origin of all known elements. The sites of nuclear creation of
   some elements, such as copper, are not really well known and are
   continuing topics of observational and computational research.

           APOD's main NASA site is moving: From apod.nasa.gov to
                            science.nasa.gov/apod
                       Tomorrow's picture: Sun triple
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
                  NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

