This seems to be a chicken and egg problem, the sun begins shining due to hydrogen becoming helium, but it's odd that there was no helium initially without the stars.
Is my logic flawed?
(Note: First year astronomy student)
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Sign up to join this communityThis seems to be a chicken and egg problem, the sun begins shining due to hydrogen becoming helium, but it's odd that there was no helium initially without the stars.
Is my logic flawed?
(Note: First year astronomy student)
The Big Bang theory predicts that (depending what assumptions you choose) the initial elements were formed from 10 seconds to 20 minutes after the Big Bang.
The initial elements were
mostly hydrogen
some deuterium
some helium-3 and helium-4
a little lithium-7
a couple of unstable isotopes that decayed to lithium-7 or helium-3.
As the linked Wikipedia article says
Essentially all of the elements that are heavier than lithium and beryllium were created much later, by stellar nucleosynthesis in evolving and exploding stars.
So the answer to your question is: the Helium came first.