Which element is the second most common gas constituent present in nebulae after hydrogen?
Answer
Helium
Helium is consistently the second most abundant gas found within nebulae, following hydrogen. This prevalence is also traced back to Big Bang nucleosynthesis, where significant amounts of helium were created alongside hydrogen. While hydrogen typically accounts for around 75% to 77% of the elemental mass, helium follows closely behind, usually comprising between 23% and 25% of the gas component, making it the clear secondary constituent by a considerable margin.
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