Cosmic Origins: How Life’s Building Blocks Journeyed Beyond the Milky Way and Returned

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Fresh research indicates that the carbon that constitutes the fundamental components of life “took a longer path” through the galaxy before assembling to form our bodies here on Earth.

The researchers involved in this study found that carbon and other elements do not merely reside motionlessly in galaxies once they are formed by stars and dispersed from supernova detonations.

Instead, these elements travel along vast cosmic streams known as “the circumgalactic medium,” guiding them out of their galaxies into intergalactic space and then back into the formation of new stars, planets, moons, and even you.

“Consider the circumgalactic medium as a colossal train station: it continuously pushes material outward and draws it back in,” stated team member and University of Washington doctoral candidate Samantha Garza.

“The heavier elements produced by stars are expelled from their home galaxy into the circumgalactic medium through their explosive supernova deaths, where they can ultimately be pulled back in and perpetuate the cycle of star and planet creation.”

“Next station: the Milky Way”

The concept of a circumgalactic medium was initially proposed in research published in 2011.

Evidence supporting this intergalactic delivery system was provided by the Hubble Space Telescope, showcasing 500,000 light-year-wide halos of hot ionized oxygen enveloping galaxies undergoing star formation.

This earlier research indicated that this transport mechanism out of galaxies is driven by galactic outflows propelling elements away at high velocities, which are subsequently drawn back into the galaxy through its gravitational pull.

This extensive, swirling cloud of material, comprising hot gases enriched in oxygen, was observed to be missing from dormant galaxies that had halted star creation.

These recent discoveries build upon the initial studies by proposing that the circumgalactic medium is not only abundant in oxygen, but is also densely populated with carbon, which is arguably the most crucial element necessary for life to flourish, though at cooler temperatures.

This signifies that the components constituting your being are intergalactic travelers that have roamed beyond the confines of

the Milky Way.

“We can now verify that the circumgalactic medium functions as a vast reservoir for both carbon and oxygen,” stated Garza. “And, at least in galaxies undergoing star formation, we hypothesize this material subsequently returns to the galaxy to perpetuate the recycling cycle.”

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Further investigation of the circumgalactic medium should assist scientists in gaining a deeper understanding of how the recycling of materials essential for new stellar formations ultimately slows down, ceasing star creation.

This could be a crucial element in explaining why some star formation diminishes in galaxies, which, as stars continually perish, contributes to a waning stellar population over cosmic durations.

“The repercussions for galaxy development, and for the characteristics of the carbon reservoir accessible to galaxies for forming new stars, are thrilling,” remarked team member and University of Washington researcher Jessica Werk. “The same carbon present in our bodies likely spent a considerable amount of time outside the galaxy.”

The group’s study was published on Dec. 27 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.