MP3 recording
Life and Death in the Cosmos (Words & Music by A. Marscher ©2016)
1. The most massive stars have LOTS OF GAS
But are so luminous that they BURN OUT FAST
Their core pressure gets too low to SUPPORT THEIR WEIGHT
Gravitational collapse CONTROLS THEIR FATE
2. Contraction of the core makes it VERY DENSE
Its heat just keeps getting MORE INTENSE
Heavy nuclei of atoms get SYNTHESIZED
As the matter gets more and more ENERGIZED . . . and . . .
Climax: The core implodes, the core implodes, and the rest of the star . . .
EXPLODES!!! It EXPLODES!!! Propelled out to space
It EXPLODES!!! It just EXPLODES!!! At an extremely rapid pace
Left behind is a neutron star or sometimes a small black hole
The first one spins as a pulsar, the second swallows planets whole
3. The remnant mixes with interSTELLAR GAS
Enriched in elements made DURING THE BLAST
In clouds that later form new STAR SYSTEMS
With planets where might live some ORGANISMS . . . like us . . . like us
Aftermath: Our ancestors were short-lived stars, so massive that they exploded apart
We're made out of their atomic debris, "sons and daughters of the cosmos" describes humanity
"Sons and daughters of the cosmos" describes you and me
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