Big Bang Fossil -The Most Ancient Star Ever Known Discovered
Scientists have discovered the great-granddaddy of all stars. They believe that the star is almost as old as existence itself—barely younger than the big bang. The star known as HE 1523-0901, is the oldest star ever seen, with quite different attributes than most other stars.
HE 1523-0901 is a bright red giant star about 80% the size of the Sun within a group of bright metal-poor stars observed from the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope at La Silla, Chile (image above).
Anna Frebel, a PhD student at the Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics at the Australian National University, who works with the team of astronomers who found HE 1523-0901 says, “It's very different from our Sun. We found the star because it had very low iron as compared to the Sun…it has the lowest iron ever observed, and not only the iron, but also many other elements; carbon and nitrogen are very low as compared to [our] Sun.”
Frebel explains that this particular type of slow-burning star is extremely rare. She says astronomers have been searching for this specific type of star for the last 40 years and so far have only found two in existence, which can be compared to finding “a needle in a haystack.”
Cosmological studies pinpoint the Big Bang to have occurred 13.7 billion years ago. The ancient star formed in our own Milky Way galaxy soon afterward (cosmologically speaking) about 13.2 billion years ago.
... It was made only 500 million years after the Big Bang or so.
I'm sort-of pointing out the obvius but it'll save future bloggers some math, right?
Posted by: Summer Glau | July 24, 2008 at 11:42 AM
Since the Universe is sooooooooo large I would be inclined to think in percentages. Its easier to think in smaller numbers for a better perspective. As Einstein would have said "Its all Relative". Imagine the life time of an average person living to ,lets say 80, the comparison is better understood. The oldest star just may be .05 percent younger than the age of the universe.
Posted by: mikeyguy | October 30, 2008 at 05:55 AM