Atoms can link up to form molecules, including organic molecules and biological processes, in interstellar space as well as on planets. But this is only possible with heavy elements, which are only created once stars form. (JENNY MOTTAR)

This Is Where The 10 Most Common Elements In The Universe Come From

In order, they go: hydrogen, helium, oxygen, carbon, neon, nitrogen, magnesium, silicon, iron, sulfur. Here’s how we made them.

Everything found on planet Earth is composed of the same ingredients: atoms.

The most current, up-to-date image showing the primary origin of each of the elements that occur naturally in the periodic table. Neutron star mergers, white dwarf collisions, and core-collapse supernovae may allow us to climb even higher than this table shows. (JENNIFER JOHNSON; ESA/NASA/AASNOVA)

Found throughout the Universe, atoms naturally occur in over 80 varieties.

The abundances of the elements in the Universe today, as measured for our Solar System. Despite being the 3rd, 4th, and 5th lightest elements of all, the abundances of lithium, beryllium, and boron are far below all the other nearby elements in the periodic table. (MHZ`AS/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS (IMAGE); K. LODDERS, APJ 591, 1220 (2003) (DATA))

But they’re all created in unequal amounts; here are our Universe’s top 10 (by mass).

The first stars and galaxies in the Universe will be surrounded by neutral atoms of (mostly) hydrogen gas, which absorbs the starlight and slows any ejecta. The large masses and high temperatures of these early stars helps ionize the Universe, but until enough heavy elements are formed and recycled into future generations of stars and planets, life and potentially habitable planets are utterly impossible. (NICOLE RAGER FULLER / NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION)

1.) Hydrogen. Created during the hot Big Bang but depleted by stellar fusion, ~70% of the Universe remains hydrogen.