Where do the heavier elements composing cosmic dust originate?

Answer

Forged inside previous generations of stars and ejected when those stars died.

The cosmic dust particles found within the interstellar medium are not primordial; they represent recycled stellar material. Elements heavier than hydrogen and helium—such as silicates and carbon—are produced through nuclear fusion processes occurring deep within the cores of massive stars during their lifetimes. When these stars reach the end of their lives, often through violent events like supernovae, these heavier elements, along with the dust grains themselves, are ejected into the interstellar medium, enriching the raw material available for subsequent generations of stars and planetary systems.

Where do the heavier elements composing cosmic dust originate?

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