Artist’s concept of a binary system similar to the one that originated the nova Sagittarii 2015 N.2. Credit: David A. Hardy y PPARC
Lithium, the lightest solid element, is created during astrophysical phenomena, but its origin has been elusive. Recently, researchers detected enormous quantities of beryllium-7, an unstable element that decays into lithium in 53.2 days, inside nova Sagittarii 2015 N.2, which suggests that novae are the main source of lithium in the galaxy. Practically every chemical element has an astronomical origin. Light elements were formed between 10s and 20min after the Big Bang, including H (75%), He (25%) and a very small amount of Li and Be.
The remaining chemical elements were formed in stars, either through fusion of other elements inside the nucleus, which begins...
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