Editing Carbon (section)

===Formation in stars===
{{Main|Triple-alpha process|CNO cycle}}
Formation of the carbon atomic nucleus occurs within a [[giant star|giant]] or [[supergiant]] star through the [[triple-alpha process]]. This requires a nearly simultaneous collision of three [[alpha particle]]s (helium nuclei), as the products of further [[nuclear fusion]] reactions of helium with hydrogen or another helium nucleus produce [[isotopes of lithium|lithium-5]] and [[isotopes of beryllium|beryllium-8]] respectively, both of which are highly unstable and decay almost instantly back into smaller nuclei.<ref name="Audi-1997">{{NUBASE 1997}}</ref> The triple-alpha process happens in conditions of temperatures over 100 megakelvins and helium concentration that the rapid expansion and cooling of the early universe prohibited, and therefore no significant carbon was created during the Big Bang.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wilson|first1=Robert|title=Astronomy through the ages the story of the human attempt to understand the universe|date=1997|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|location=Basingstoke|isbn=9780203212738|chapter=Chapter 11: The Stars – their Birth, Life, and Death}}</ref>

According to current physical cosmology theory, carbon is formed in the interiors of stars on the [[horizontal branch]].<ref name="Ostlie-2007">{{cite book |last1=Ostlie |first1=Dale A. |last2=Carroll |first2=Bradley W. |name-list-style=amp |title=An Introduction to Modern Stellar Astrophysics |publisher=Addison Wesley |location=San Francisco (CA) |date=2007 |isbn=978-0-8053-0348-3}}</ref> When massive stars die as supernova, the carbon is scattered into space as dust. This dust becomes component material for the formation of the next-generation star systems with accreted planets.<ref name="Hoover-2014"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Whittet |first=Douglas C. B. |date=2003 |title=Dust in the Galactic Environment |pages=45–46 |publisher=[[CRC Press]] |isbn=978-0-7503-0624-9}}</ref> The Solar System is one such star system with an abundance of carbon, enabling the existence of life as we know it. It is the opinion of most scholars that all the carbon in the Solar System and the [[Milky Way]] comes from dying stars.<ref name="Bohan-2016">{{cite book |last1=Bohan |first1=Elise |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/940282526 |title=Big History |last2=Dinwiddie |first2=Robert |last3=Challoner |first3=Jack |last4=Stuart |first4=Colin |last5=Harvey |first5=Derek |last6=Wragg-Sykes |first6=Rebecca |last7=Chrisp |first7=Peter |last8=Hubbard |first8=Ben |last9=Parker |first9=Phillip |collaboration=Writers |date=February 2016 |publisher=[[DK (publisher)|DK]] |others=Foreword by [[David Christian (historian)|David Christian]] |isbn=978-1-4654-5443-0 |edition=1st American |location=[[New York City|New York]] |pages=10–11, 45, 55, 58–59, 63, 65–71, 75, 78–81, 98, 100, 102 |oclc=940282526 |author-link6=Rebecca Wragg Sykes |author-link7=Peter Chrisp}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=May 2003 |title=Is my body really made up of star stuff? |url=https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question57.html |access-date=2023-03-17 |publisher=[[NASA]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Firaque |first=Kabir |date=2020-07-10 |title=Explained: How stars provided the carbon that makes life possible |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-how-the-stars-provided-the-carbon-that-makes-life-possible-6499596/ |access-date=2023-03-17 |website=[[The Indian Express]] |language=en}}</ref>

The [[CNO cycle]] is an additional hydrogen fusion mechanism that powers stars, wherein carbon operates as a catalyst.

Rotational transitions of various isotopic forms of carbon monoxide (for example, {{sup|12}}CO, {{sup|13}}CO, and {{sup|18}}CO) are detectable in the [[submillimeter]] wavelength range, and are used in the study of newly forming stars in [[molecular cloud]]s.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pikelʹner |first=Solomon Borisovich |title=Star Formation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qbGLgcxnfpIC&pg=PA38 |access-date=2011-06-06 |date=1977 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-90-277-0796-3 |pages=38 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121123220424/http://books.google.com/books?id=qbGLgcxnfpIC&pg=PA38 |archive-date=2012-11-23}}</ref>