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To the Editor: I was fascinated by Lorser Feitelson’s painting Life Begins on the cover of the September 1, 2004, issue of JAMA.¹ What is shown in the upper right panel is part of the deep-sky object known as the Veil Nebula in the constellation Cygnus. Dr Southgate refers to this image as suggesting " . . . anything from an exploding star to a swimming sperm."¹ This description is supremely felicitous, as the Veil Nebula is, in fact, the tattered remnants of a supernova—an exploding star.

But there is a far deeper connection. The universe started with little other than hydrogen and helium, and none of the heavy elements of our familiar world and ourselves. The heavier elements up through iron are produced inside massive stars much heavier than the sun, by thermonuclear fusion during the stable portions of their lives. When such stars reach the end of their useable nuclear fuel, . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Howard L. Ritter, Jr, MD
hlritter@adelphia.net
The Toledo Clinic
Toledo, OH

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Life Begins
M. Therese Southgate
JAMA. 2004;292(9):1012.
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