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In astronomy, nearly everything is hydrogen or helium. Like, over 98% of all matter is H or He. So it’s very useful to be able to talk about H, He, and “everything else”. They call that everything else “metals”.

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Balthazar@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
Some stellar atmosphere models also add “alpha”, which provides an extra knob for the abundance of alpha-capture elements. If you need anything more than that, you’re doing some niche astrophysics.

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- Zagorath@aussie.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
  Alpha being the elements up to iron?
  
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  - Balthazar@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago
    Elements formed by alpha capture. Since alpha particles have 2 protons, it’s generally elements with an even number of protons.
    
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