The breakthrough of a star exceptionally low in most element , but abundant in carbon copy , has thrown into question ideas about the nature of the first ace , suggesting not all were the behemoth we have imagined .
The early cosmos was a very hot place . So hot , it is remember , the processes by which star topology form today were not possible . Instead , astrophysicists think stars could only form 100 million years after the Big Bang through the collapse of protogalaxies to create star with mountain hundreds of times that of the Sun .
magnanimous stars have forgetful lifespans , so these groundbreaker are long go . However , their debris seed a second generation of stars . By find and examining the characteristic of these star - child , Dr Thomas Nordlanderof the Australian National University hopes to hear about the propagation before them .
Such ancient star should be broken in metals , so Norlander seek those that are bright at 422.7 nanometers , suggest an absence seizure of calcium , which absorbs this wavelength of light . Having examined the spectrum of 3,000 low - calcium genius , he found one , J160540.18 - 144323.1 , that is lower in iron than any mavin antecedently evaluate . Iron supply a proxy for other metal in stars .
" In this star , just one atom in every 50 billion is iron – that ’s like one free fall of water supply in an Olympic swimming kitty , " Nordlander said in astatement .
InMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , Nordlander account J160540.18 - 144323.1 ’s concentration of most other elements besides hydrogen and helium is similarly low .
Carbon , which J160540.18 - 144323.1 has in abundance , is the exception . J160540.18 - 144323.1 is clearly the proper eld to be a 2d - generation star , but its carbon paper anomaly contradicts what we would expect from a gargantuan star ’s progeny .
alternatively , J160540.18 - 144323.1 looks like what we ’d expect if it was seeded by a star just above the 8 solar plenty limen , at which principal end their lives as supernovae . Nordlander and colleagues think the wizard that fed J160540.18 - 144323.1 its atomic number 6 was probably 10 solar masses , and certainly no more than 20 .
" We believe the supernova zip of the hereditary whiz was so low most of the heavier elements fell back into a very dense oddment created by the explosion , ” Nordlandersaid . " Only a diminutive fraction of the elements heavy than C escaped into outer space and helped to organise the very old ace that we institute . "
carbon monoxide - authorProfessor Martin Asplundsaid : " The safe word is we can meditate the first stars through their children – the stars that amount after them like the one we ’ve find . "
The determination was not a entire surprise , followingthe discoveryof a similarly down in the mouth - Fe / gamy - carbon paper star . However , Norlander told IFLScience that star ’s iron degree could not even be measured and this made it heavy to constrain the size of the supernova that antedate it , go forth a much wider range of possibility than for J160540.18 - 144323.1 .
