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Second Primordial Star Found
croxis
I am the walrus
in Zocalo v2.0
[quote]econd Primordial Star Found
Astronomers have examined a star they think was among the first created after the universe began. It is only the second known example of such a primitive object.
Theorists say the universe began with the Big Bang about 13.7 billion years ago. For some 200,000 years, stars could not form. Then things cooled enough for knots of gas to condense into the first stars. The gas present then was raw, primordial. It was mostly hydrogen and helium, with traces of lithium, helium and deuterium.
The first stars were composed of these raw materials, the thinking goes. Within the furnace of each first-generation star, heavier elements were created, then cast into the cosmos when the stars died explosively. Subsequent generations of stars created more and more heavier elements, including all the stuff that makes planets and living things.
The first stars should have been virtually bereft of iron, for example, while iron is common in latter-day stars like our Sun. They are challenging to find and study, because all that's left are the burnt embers of their previous shimmering glory.
The newly studied star, named HE1327- 2326, contains 300,000 times less iron than the Sun. It is similar to one announced in 2002.
The investigation was led by Anna Frebel of the Australian National University and is detailed in the April 14 issue of the journal Nature. The results should help astronomers learn more about the initial era of the universe, said Roger Cayrel, of the Observatoire de Paris-Meudon in Paris.
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Astronomers have examined a star they think was among the first created after the universe began. It is only the second known example of such a primitive object.
Theorists say the universe began with the Big Bang about 13.7 billion years ago. For some 200,000 years, stars could not form. Then things cooled enough for knots of gas to condense into the first stars. The gas present then was raw, primordial. It was mostly hydrogen and helium, with traces of lithium, helium and deuterium.
The first stars were composed of these raw materials, the thinking goes. Within the furnace of each first-generation star, heavier elements were created, then cast into the cosmos when the stars died explosively. Subsequent generations of stars created more and more heavier elements, including all the stuff that makes planets and living things.
The first stars should have been virtually bereft of iron, for example, while iron is common in latter-day stars like our Sun. They are challenging to find and study, because all that's left are the burnt embers of their previous shimmering glory.
The newly studied star, named HE1327- 2326, contains 300,000 times less iron than the Sun. It is similar to one announced in 2002.
The investigation was led by Anna Frebel of the Australian National University and is detailed in the April 14 issue of the journal Nature. The results should help astronomers learn more about the initial era of the universe, said Roger Cayrel, of the Observatoire de Paris-Meudon in Paris.
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