Humans have had an extensive history of looking to the night sky and asking where we come from. Different cultures and Indigenous knowledge systems have long held the stars as ancestors. Science eventually caught up to the truth in what was considered myth.

Astrophysics describes how most elements heavier than hydrogen and helium are fused in the hearts of stars through a process called nucleosynthesis. When a star dies in a supernova, these elements are scattered across the cosmos, gathering over billions of years into new forms: meteors, planets, protostars, and eventually, life.