Scientists may have finally solved the mystery of the sun's missing silver

For several years now, astronomers who study the sun have faced a little mystery — our star seemed to hold too little silver. Whenever scientists examined the sun's outer layers, they've seen significantly less silver than they've expected to find.

Where, then, did the missing silver go?

As it turns out, this mystery may finally be solved. Newly published research suggests that the sun's missing silver may have been hiding in plain sight all along.

At first, the real mystery might seem to be why you'd seek silver in the sun at all. After all, 98.5% of the sun's mass is made from lightweight hydrogen and helium. Silver is just a tiny fraction of the remaining 1.5%, which also includes traces of other heavy elements like iron and copper.

These trace elements can illuminate the history of the cosmos. Silver is thought to form when dy...