Stars of Galaxy Charted 12 Billion Light-Years Away Contains Same Element Inside Human Bones, Toothpaste

Carl Sagan's famous quote may be right all along, as a new study suggests a potential correlation between a specific property of our bones and the stellar bodies. The saying 'we're all made of stardust' may not just be an entertaining thought but could be true based on the similarities of the composition of the human teeth and other bone parts with the cosmic materials billions of lightyears away from Earth.

Fluorine in Teeth and Bones Found in Stars?

The study was made possible through the efforts of the astronomy experts from the European Southern Observatory ESO. The observation was conducted through the help of one of the planet's largest telescopes called the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array or the ALMA, located in Chile. According to the study, there are fluorine compounds found on the materials of a young galaxy that sits 12 billion lightyears away from our planet. The latest research was the first astronomical discovery of the element fluorine ever in the vast void of space.

In a Forbes report, University of Hertfordshire expert and author Maximilien Franco said that fluorine had pretty much made its way to fame as many of the global population use products that contain one of its forms called fluoride. The chemical is mostly known to help strengthen the bone structure of a human body, which explains why it is abundant in toothpaste variants on the market.

Fluorine, according to the study, was found along with an emission of radiating blast that occurred billions of years ago. It is widely known that several chemicals and minerals form inside stellar bodies as they develop throughout time. This composition could change depending on the factors affecting the stars but could stay on its core and other parts for a long time until it dies. The study suggests that fluorine could be among those chemicals. However, it is also possible that fluorine may have been produced exclusively on a specific set of stars.

Galaxy NGP-190387 and its Fluorine-Producing Stellar Cluster

A galaxy called NGP-190387 may have the answer regarding the bizarre presence of fluorine. The study said the stellar cluster had been able to complete itself 1.4 billion years ago. The readings from the ALMA telescope suggest that fluorine indeed existed in the stars of the NGP-190387, but not for a long time. Moreover, the experts theorized that the collective clues found on the fluorine-producing stars fall into the category of a huge stellar cluster called the Wolf-Rayet stars. These stars are known to exist for a short period of time, forming and living quickly before abruptly dying. Like any other star, the Wolf-Rayet stars end themselves in a grand, radioactive explosion called the supernova.

The University of Hertfordshire's Centre for Astrophysics Research, School of Physics, Engineering and Computer Science expert and co-author of the research Chiaki Kobayashi said that our galaxy can produce fluorine but would take tens to millions of years before procuring a reasonable amount. The authors are expected to derive more data from the NGP-190387 in future studies through the help of ESO's Extremely Large Telescope. The study was published in the journal Nature Astronomy, titled "The ramp-up of interstellar medium enrichment at z > 4."

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