Oxygen in stars
Monday, May 2, 2016 - 09:11
in Physics & Chemistry
Oxygen is the third most abundant element in the universe, after hydrogen and helium. It is an important constituent of the clouds of gas and dust in space, especially when combined in molecules with other atoms like carbon, and it is from this interstellar material that new stars and planets develop. Oxygen is, of course, also essential for life as we know it, and all known life forms require liquid water and its oxygen content. Oxygen in molecular form, especially as water, was supposed to be relatively abundant, but over the past decade considerable attention has been paid to observations suggesting that at least in molecular form oxygen is scarcer than expected, a deficit that has not yet been entirely resolved.