Milkyrain
12-04-2007, 11:14 PM
In the dark wells of the universe matter fell together. Clumps of the hydrogen and helium that had just been made broke up to make huge clouds, the size of the galaxy, floating in space. These clouds were the birth place of the stars. Some parts were thicker than others and they fell in on each other, crushing under their own weight to make thick balls. They were made of dust and gas and as they spun they got closer and closer colliding more and more warming up everything around them.
Most of these just floated there, but others, larger balls, were so heavy that they pushed at the centre until it ignited. The atoms deep inside fell apart again, but higher up more and more protons were pushed onto the neutrons to make new elements.
Alchemy began in the stars as hydrogen atoms fused together to make more helium. As they did small pieces of matter were left over, they converted to energy and exploded in a nuclear fire strong enough to keep the star burning for millions more years.
After all of the hydrogen is used up stars can then burn helium into heavier elements but less energy is released because the amount of mass given away is less. The stars loose some of the thermal pressure which stopped gravity pressing them any smaller and they collapse a little. This can ignite them again and give them enough energy to keep burning, making the atoms heavier and causing the stars to swell, shedding it's skin in a giant red cloud.. Some stars stopped here, dying with only a tiny core left, a diamond weighing as much as the Sun forced as small as the earth.
The larger stars could go beyond this covering themselves in more and more layers. The larger stars were bluer than the large red ones because they were hotter, the cooler stars went all down the rainbow through green, yellow and orange to red. With the redder stars burning slower and outliving the blue stars by thousands of years.
The bluer stars burnt beyond carbon, inside these strange balls of fire all of the natural elements burnt into existence. At last they grew a skin of iron before exploding with the power of a trillion nuclear bombs, and shining as brightly as a whole galaxy, splashing all of the elements around them.
Sometimes after these explosions the core was so heavy that the electrons broke off of the atoms that made it making an electronic sea. In heavier stars still the electrons and protons melted together making neutrons again.
Others left ashes so heavy that they fell in on each other stretching space into a black hole, wells in space sometimes as massive as 250 million Suns, so deep that even light can not float away. These giant black holes were so heavy that they bent space all around the galaxy, they pulled at the stars just out of reach enough to ignite the sky around them. Some shone screaming bursts of light away from it's edges and so became a quasar.
One day, 4.6 billion years ago one of these explosions created a cloud of dust and gas so heavy that almost all of this fell back together again, glowing as a dull yellow star. A tiny amount was left swirling around the valley of space created by the weight of the Sun. Some parts were denser than others and so they fell together making larger and larger clumps. After a few tens of thousands of years the planets took their shape. Our Earth is just part of the debris of a huge stellar explosion, and from these ashes humans grew.
Most of these just floated there, but others, larger balls, were so heavy that they pushed at the centre until it ignited. The atoms deep inside fell apart again, but higher up more and more protons were pushed onto the neutrons to make new elements.
Alchemy began in the stars as hydrogen atoms fused together to make more helium. As they did small pieces of matter were left over, they converted to energy and exploded in a nuclear fire strong enough to keep the star burning for millions more years.
After all of the hydrogen is used up stars can then burn helium into heavier elements but less energy is released because the amount of mass given away is less. The stars loose some of the thermal pressure which stopped gravity pressing them any smaller and they collapse a little. This can ignite them again and give them enough energy to keep burning, making the atoms heavier and causing the stars to swell, shedding it's skin in a giant red cloud.. Some stars stopped here, dying with only a tiny core left, a diamond weighing as much as the Sun forced as small as the earth.
The larger stars could go beyond this covering themselves in more and more layers. The larger stars were bluer than the large red ones because they were hotter, the cooler stars went all down the rainbow through green, yellow and orange to red. With the redder stars burning slower and outliving the blue stars by thousands of years.
The bluer stars burnt beyond carbon, inside these strange balls of fire all of the natural elements burnt into existence. At last they grew a skin of iron before exploding with the power of a trillion nuclear bombs, and shining as brightly as a whole galaxy, splashing all of the elements around them.
Sometimes after these explosions the core was so heavy that the electrons broke off of the atoms that made it making an electronic sea. In heavier stars still the electrons and protons melted together making neutrons again.
Others left ashes so heavy that they fell in on each other stretching space into a black hole, wells in space sometimes as massive as 250 million Suns, so deep that even light can not float away. These giant black holes were so heavy that they bent space all around the galaxy, they pulled at the stars just out of reach enough to ignite the sky around them. Some shone screaming bursts of light away from it's edges and so became a quasar.
One day, 4.6 billion years ago one of these explosions created a cloud of dust and gas so heavy that almost all of this fell back together again, glowing as a dull yellow star. A tiny amount was left swirling around the valley of space created by the weight of the Sun. Some parts were denser than others and so they fell together making larger and larger clumps. After a few tens of thousands of years the planets took their shape. Our Earth is just part of the debris of a huge stellar explosion, and from these ashes humans grew.