What conditions are needed to form elements heavier than iron?
(the sun – 4 min) #7 Questions Our Sun is one of about 1 X 1011 (100 billion) stars located in the rotating, spiral-shaped galaxy we call the Milky Way. The Sun contains more than 99.8% of the total mass of our solar system, which is located about two thirds of the way out on one of the arms of the galaxy, about 30,000 light years from the center. Life Cycles of Stars: A star’s life cycle is determined by its mass. The larger its mass, the shorter its life cycle. A star’s mass is determined by the amount of matter available in the giant cloud of gas and dust, nebula, from which forms. Stage 1 Dust and gas is pulled together by gravity to form a protostar inside a nebula. This gravitational contraction causes heating as potential energy is converted to kinetic energy. The picture above shows stars beginning to form at the edges of a nebula. Stage 2 When the star is hot enough,15,000,000 oC, nuclear fusion (converting hydrogen to helium) starts in the core of the newly formed star, and i
