The expression 'we are just motes of stars' may look somewhat clichéd, but in essence it is an indisputable fact, because most of the basic vital elements were created precisely by the stars.
“This is the first time we've been able to investigate the distribution of elements throughout our galaxy,” said Stan Hasselkust of New Mexico State University. 'It was revealed that the elements include atoms, which make up 97% of a person's body weight.'
The new results were obtained as a result of data analysis and the creation of a catalog with more than 150 thousand stars, where each star includes almost two dozen chemical elements. It turned out that the new catalog includes all the so-called 'essential elements' – carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfur, elements that are known to be the building blocks of all life on Earth. This is the first time that measurements of all elements have been made for so many stars.
Modern astronomers are able to roughly determine how much of each element is contained in a given star. Despite the fact that they are unable to visit the stars and spoon a sample of what they are made of, astronomy today successfully uses the technique of spectroscopy. This method involves splitting light from distant stars into detailed 'rainbows' (called spectra). Measuring the depth of dark and light spots in the spectra allows planetary scientists to determine how much of a particular element a star contains.
Sources: phys
