Solar Flares: Powerful Insights into their Science and Energy

The Metals of the Stars: Rhodium, Iridium, and Platinum

Have you ever wondered where the matter within you comes from? Not just your cells or tissues, but the very rare metals found on our planet. Rhodium, Iridium, and Platinum are not created in the Sun, nor do they reach Earth through solar flares.

Solar flares are massive energy explosions that occur in the Sun’s atmosphere, releasing electromagnetic radiation and charged particles. They primarily involve light elements such as hydrogen and helium, as well as iron and sulfur. They do not carry heavy metals like rhodium, iridium, or platinum.

How Heavy Metals Are Formed

Heavy elements are created in cosmic explosions, such as neutron star mergers (kilo novae) and gamma-ray bursts. From there, they travel through space and reach Earth via cosmic dust and meteorites. Some of these heavy elements were incorporated into Earth from the very beginning of its formation, eventually shaping the crust and the abundance of metallic elements we know today.