What are the primary ingredients contained within vast nebula reservoirs?
Answer
Hydrogen and helium, along with trace amounts of heavier elements and solid dust particles
Nebulae function as enormous cosmic reservoirs holding the foundational ingredients required for building stars and planets. The vast majority of their mass consists of the lightest elements, specifically hydrogen and helium. However, they also contain necessary trace amounts of heavier elements, which were created inside previous generations of stars, alongside solid dust particles. These heavier components are crucial for the formation of rocky planets, even though hydrogen and helium dominate the overall composition of the interstellar cloud.
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