Leaning objectives: Explain that:

• Elements as heavy as iron are formed inside stars by nuclear fusion. • Heavier elements are formed in supernovas.• Exploding material can end up in new solar systems.

P3 4.3 How the chemical elements formed

Crab Nebula

The Crab Nebula is the remnants of a supernova explosion seen in day light in 1054 by the Chinese!

Energy is released by fusion

Energy is released by fission

Blooming with starsAn infrared image from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, shows the young blue stars of the Berkeley 59 cluster amid a huge cloud of glowing dust that has been compared to a "cosmic rosebud." The image was released on March 16.

Blooming with stars

An infrared image from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer,

shows the young blue stars of the Berkeley 59 cluster

amid a huge cloud of glowing dust3,300 light-years from Earth

.

The green material is from heated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, molecules that can be found on Earth in barbecue pits, exhaust pipes and other places where combustion has occurred.

The rosebud-like red glow surrounding the hot, young stars is warm dust heated by the stars.

Supernova 1987A, or SN1987A, was the closest and brightest supernova observed in more than 400 years.

Three mysterious debris rings surrounding Supernova 1987A were formed duringan ancient two-star merger that eventuallyled to an enormous stellar explosion.

It blazed as brightly as 100 million suns before gradually fading. The explosion occurred in the Large Magellanic Cloud,a dwarf galaxy only 160,000 light-years away.

It was first spotted on Feb. 23, 1987, and marked the first time modern astronomerscould observe a star explosion in detail.

This image, taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, shows the newly discovered planet, Fomalhaut b, orbiting its parent star, Fomalhaut.

The small white box at lower right pinpoints the planet's location.

Fomalhaut b has carved a path along the inner edge of a vast, dusty debris ring encircling Fomalhaut that is 21.5 billion miles across.

Fomalhaut b orbits 10.7 billion miles from its star.Fomalhaut b completes an orbit around its parent star every 872 years.

The white dot in the center of the image marks the star's location.

The region around Fomalhaut's location is black because astronomers used the Advanced Camera's coronagraph to block out the star's bright glare

so that the dim planet could be seen.

Fomalhaut b is 1 billion times fainter than its star. The radial streaks are scattered starlight. The red dot at lower left is a background star.

The Fomalhaut system is 25 light-years away in the constellation Piscis Australis.

Extra-terrestrial life

1. Using radio telescopes to detect meaningful signals from space:

Obtain evidence by:

S.E.T.I.

Extra-terrestrial life

1. Using radio telescopes to detect meaningful signals from space:

Obtain evidence by:

S.E.T.I.

2. Using robots to take pictures / bring back samples:

Extra-terrestrial life

1. Using radio telescopes to detect meaningful signals from space:

Obtain evidence by:

S.E.T.I.

2. Using robots to take pictures / bring back samples:

Extra-terrestrial life

1. Using radio telescopes to detect meaningful signals from space:

Obtain evidence by:

S.E.T.I.

2. Using robots to take pictures / bring back samples:

Extra-terrestrial life

1. Looking for microbes / fossilised remains eg on Mars and Europa (a moon of Jupiter)

Analyse evidence by:

Smooth surface:

young volcanic ice flows!

Extra-terrestrial life

2. Detecting changes in the atmosphere or closed container. eg oxygen levels

Smooth surface:

young volcanic ice flows!

1. Looking for microbes / fossilised remains eg on Mars and Europa (a moon of Jupiter)

Analyse evidence by:

3. a. Plutonium has a half life of 24,000 years. So why is it not found naturally like uranium? b. Why is carbon an important element? c. Lead is much denser than iron. How did the lead form?

Leaning objectives: Explain that:

• Elements as heavy as iron are formed inside stars by nuclear fusion. • Heavier elements are formed in supernovas.• Exploding material can end up in new solar systems.

P3 4.3 How the chemical elements formed

Crab Nebula

The Crab Nebula is the remnants of a supernova explosion seen in day light in 1054 by the Chinese!