Matt Browne SFW wrote:
> Well, our Sun is a metal-rich star and scientists are quite sure that
> two stars ending as supernova preceded the formation of our Sun (so it
> has a "mother" and a "grandmother"). There are metal-deficient and
> metal-poor stars, which also gives an indication about the number of
> generations. The question is was the "grandmother" made up of
> primordial material? Or are there more than 2 stars after the big bang
> that led to the formation of the Sun? Is there really a way of
> knowing? Does a great-grandmother exist? Are there even more
> ancestors? 13.7 billion years is a long time and large stars burn up
> in a few 100 million years or less. Any insights on this?
The Sun is usually considered to be a late second- or early
third-generation star, but that's a rough estimate, not a count of the
number of supernovae that contributed to the Sun's formation accretion
disk. There were surely many stars over the history of the Universe
that contributed to the Sun's material.
--
Erik Max Francis && max@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
&& http://www.alcyone.com/max/
San Jose, CA, USA && 37 18 N 121 57 W && AIM, Y!M erikmaxfrancis
Tell me the truth / I'll take it like a man
-- Chante Moore
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