Carbon
From Slackerpedia Galactica
Carbon (C) is the fourth most common element in the Universe, so you shouldn't be surprised to learn it's the building block of organic chemistry. Life as we know it would be impossible without carbon (regardless of what those silicon fanatics tell us) and is therefore the leading source of problems on Earth. Carbon can take many forms, and for some odd reason the allotropic crystalline form of carbon is more highly desired than any other known substance, especially by the female gender of the human species.
It is theorized by some that the cores of gas giants are massively large carbon allotropic crystals (diamonds). If this is ever proven to be true, it could be just the thing to encourage space mining.
Most of the Carbon in the Universe is created by the fusion of Helium in low to medium-mass stars. The Carbon is dredged up from inside the star and mixes with the outer layers. The star's winds then distribute it into the ISM as the star slowly dies and forms a nebula. In higher mass stars, the CNO process creates Carbon, Nitrogen and Oxygen during the star's life. This is distributed by supernovae explosions.
Some old stars are made up of mostly carbon, created by the fusing of helium by red giants. These carbon stars look blood red when seen visually through a telescope. A list of bright carbon stars is here. W Ori is a particular favorite among amateurs.
External Links
- Wikipedia listing on carbon in general.
- Wikipedia listing on the crystalline form.
- Nuclear reaction rates and the production of Carbon in stars
