The Formation of the Solar System.

Matter in the universe was born in violence. Hydrogen and Helium emerged from the intense heat of the Big Bang some 15 billion years ago. The more elaborate atoms of carbon, oxygen, calcium and iron, out of which we are made, had their origins in the burning depths of stars. Heavy elements such as Uranium were made in the shockwaves of the supernova explosions. Once formed the violent explosions returned the elements to the space between the stars. The gravitation moulded them into new stars and planets.

Stars supplied the universe with the heavy elements and the explosive force of supernovas then scattered them into space. Interstellar dust grains that were formed from the atmospheres of Red Giant stars allowed the development of heavier elements. Radio astronomers have detected nearly a hundred types of molecules in the interstellar medium - H, C, O, N, predominate. The Solar System was formed from elements synthesized by previous generations of stars.

About a third of ...