Cosmologic philosophy: fine tuning, of carbon (Introduction)

by David Turell , Sunday, October 11, 2020, 23:37 (1293 days ago) @ David Turell

Fred Hoyle predicted how stars make carbon from three helium molecules. Now it is shown the process is much faster than realized before:

https://cosmosmagazine.com/space/astrophysics/elements-of-surprise-in-new-star-study/?u...

Stars produce carbon via the triple-alpha process, which requires three helium nuclei (otherwise known as alpha particles) to collide and fuse in a blindingly tiny fraction of a second. It’s such an unlikely process that astrophysicists have struggled to explain how carbon and the heavier elements beyond are so abundant in the Universe today.

Astronomer Fred Hoyle proposed a solution in 1953 with what science writer Marcus Chown termed, in his book The Magic Furnace, “the most outrageous prediction” ever made in science.

He predicted the existence of an exotic, excited state of carbon that nearly matches the energy of the triple-alpha process. Known as the Hoyle state, he suggested it would act as a stepping stone to the production of stable carbon – but even then, chances are slim.

“For every 2500 Hoyle state nuclei produced, only one transitions to stable carbon,” Kibédi explains. “The rest fall apart.”

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By combining the results, the researchers found that carbon is created 34% faster than previously thought – a huge jump. The new measurement is the first major update to this critical astrophysical quantity in over 40 years.

“It was really unexpected,” said Kibédi. “Nobody had looked at this particular measurement since 1976. Everyone assumed it was well-known.”

Comment: Life is carbon based. The adds to the impression of fine tuning producing copious amounts of carbon the basis of our lives.