Interstellar matter

Template:TOC-right Interstellar matter is all uncoalesced matter in the regions between stars. It is comprised of solid dust, neutral gas and ionized plasma.

The interstellar medium contains ionised elements (predominantly carbon, silicon and sulphur), neutral elements (most of which is hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, oxygen, neon and argon) and condensed dust grains (primarily aluminium, calcium magnesium, and iron). The lightest elements, hydrogen, helium and lithium, were formed during the Big Bang. Heavier elements were created within stars by nucleosynthesis before being ejected into interstellar space by stellar winds and supernova explosions.

The interstellar matter closer to our solar system includes matter created after the original nebula from which our sun was formed and is expected to be richer in heavier elements and neutron rich isotopes.

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