I’m Chris. I’m the new owner of Under The Stars. When I was 6 years old my dad kept me up late to see Halley’s Comet through binoculars and I’ve been fascinated by astronomy ever since.
I’m a collection of atoms that were once inside a star. So are you. There’s a chance that some of the atoms in you were created in the core of a different star, or stars, to the atoms currently forming me. Even as you read this there may be cosmic pieces of different origin between your left and right eye. Personally, I like to think that my star stuff came from pretty good stock. Stars were stars in those days and they really knew how to shine.
Just kidding. Stars these days are even better. Well, some of them are. Sort of. If you like the earth and most of the stuff on it. Later generations of stars tend to contain more heavy elements than their ancestors. Some of these are elements that are indispensible to life as we know it. The earth and everyone on it, all the animals on land or in the oceans, contain chemical building blocks that were created in the cores of a handful of long gone stars that we will never know.
The calcium in your teeth, phosphorous in your DNA, oxygen in your blood, were all released into the cosmic mix by unimaginably energetic explosions of rare massive stars. If you’re wearing any gold jewellery or anything heavier than iron, it was likely created by the explosion itself or maybe even the collision of neutron stars. Then it gets mixed in with other clouds of gas and dust in space and eventually it might be part of a star system like ours.
This is deep stuff I know. Some think of it as astronomical spirituality. It is definitely a beautiful, natural cycle of this cosmos we find ourselves in, and one that connects us all. We’re all made of the same stuff.
I’d like to thank the human collection of stellar star stuff that is Becky Bateman for bringing Under The Stars to life. I hope to be able to continue the excellent work that she has done thus far and keep her connected to Under The Stars in future. I hope Becky will remain a key figure in the Wairarapa astronomical community and I wish her clear skies and all the best for the future.
