APOD: 2026 September 14 – Where Your Elements Came From

On September 14, 2026, an Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) highlighted the origins of the elements found within humans. The picture, created by NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio (SVS), explained that the hydrogen in our bodies and water stems from the Big Bang, with no other significant sources of hydrogen in the universe.

Carbon, oxygen, and iron within the human body were formed through nuclear fusion in the cores of ancient stars, while some iron likely originated from supernovae of faraway stars. Gold jewelry, for example, may have been produced during violent neutron star collisions that manifested as short gamma-ray bursts or gravitational wave events.

Elements such as phosphorus and copper, albeit present in minute quantities, are vital for the proper functioning of all known life. The periodic table featured in the APOD was color-coded to indicate the probable nuclear origin of each element. However, some sites of nuclear creation, like copper, remain uncertain and are actively explored through observational and computational research.

NASA's main Astronomy Picture of the Day site experienced a transition in the meantime, moving from apod.nasa.gov to science.nasa.gov/apod. This change was facilitated by the Scientific Visualization Studio, operated by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The editors and authors behind the image were Robert Nemiroff, Jerry Bonnell, and Cecilia Chirenti.