Hmmm, it's been a while, but my periodic table says that carbon and phosphorus aren't metals. That's Reuters for you...
"If totally metal-free stars could be found..."
Found one...
Posted on 10/30/2002 12:34:06 PM PST by Junior
LONDON (Reuters) - A group of scientists has discovered a distant star that could date back to the beginning of the Universe.
The giant star, HE0107-5240, is a galactic rarity because it is virtually metal-free unlike the other, more modern known stars, they wrote in the science journal Nature.
"These old stars provide crucial clues to the star formation history and the synthesis of chemical elements in the early Universe," they said.
"If totally metal-free stars could be found, this would allow the direct study of the pristine gas from the Big Bang," they added.
The existence of stars with zero or very low metal content has been hypothesized for decades, but none has ever been found before -- throwing the theory into doubt.
At the dawn of time these stars contained most of the elements in the Universe.
But quite early in its history these nuclear furnaces began to convert the lighter elements into heavier ones like carbon, phosphorous and lead -- collectively known as metals.
In theory, therefore, there were once large numbers of the low or zero-metal stars some of which should still exist but which -- until the discovery of HE0107-5240 -- had never been found.
"This discovery suggests that (metal-free) stars could still exist -- that is, that the first generation of stars also contained long-lived low-mass objects," the scientists said.
"The previous failure to find them may be an observational selection effect," they added.
The scientists are from Sweden, Germany, Australia, the United States and Brazil.
By RICK CALLAHAN, Associated Press Writer
Astronomers have discovered an ancient star near the center of our galaxy that may shed light on the universe's composition shortly after it was blasted into existence by the Big Bang.
This cosmic relic is more than 12 billion years old — about a billion years younger than the universe itself. It also has an extremely low metal content, some 1/200,000th of that found in our Sun. That is 20 times less metal than the previous lowest-metal star, found in 1977.
The star's age and composition place it among the second wave of stars that formed after the universe's violent creation, its discoverers said. Researchers had predicted this type of ultra-low metal star 25 years ago, but an example eluded them until now.
Michael S. Bessell, an astronomers at Australia's Mount Stromlo Observatory, said the newly discovered star arose from the debris of a first-generation star, so it contains only a very small amount of heavy elements.
"This really traces things back to the very early stages of the universe because stars are records of that time. This is an indicator of those times," said Bessell, the star's co-discoverer.
The star is described in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.
Dubbed HE0107-5240, it is located 36,000 light years from Earth near the center of the Milky Way and is about four-fifths the size of our Sun. It is located in the constellation Pisces but is too dim to be seen with the naked eye.
Scientists believe that after the Big Bang, the universe was composed only of hydrogen, helium and a trace of lithium — the lightest elements — and that the other naturally occurring elements were forged inside stars, which are essentially gigantic nuclear furnaces.
The first generation of stars that formed from the gas and dust cast outward by the explosion were massive, fast-burning and short-lived. When they exploded as supernovae they began tainting the universe with the first doses of heavier elements, which astronomers call metals. This debris formed stars like HE0107-5240, scientists said.
The star's discovery is exciting for astronomers, who had grown frustrated after decades of searching, said Dr. Volker Bromm of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass.
Bromm, who was not involved in the research, said this star and others that may yet be found could yield clues to the evolution of star formation.
"It's clear that these very first stars were very different from present day stars. The question is when and how did the transition in the way of forming stars take place between these first stars that predominantly formed and massive stars to the more normal mode that we still around in our Milky Way?" he said.
Dr. George W. Preston, an astronomer and retired director of the Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena, Calif., said the next step will be finding more members of what he jokingly called "The Class of 13 Billion B.C."
"Finding this star confirms in a general way one of the expectations of the Big Bang theory, but finding one is hardly useful for making far-reaching conclusions," he said.
Bessell said the nine-member team that took part in the research found it after reviewing some of 8,000 stars they had culled from hundreds of thousands of candidates. So far, they are only a quarter of the way through that list.
Hmmm, it's been a while, but my periodic table says that carbon and phosphorus aren't metals. That's Reuters for you...
"If totally metal-free stars could be found..."
Found one...
The term "metal" does not mean the same thing in astrophysics lingo as it does in chemistry and English. I believe astronomers use it to refer to any fusion products heavier than helium.
came up with the stork/dork theory of evolution---
to do away/replace normal traditional civilized govt/society/SCIENCE!
"Astronomical alchemy" bump and ping...
:^)
That's interesting. Too bad Reuter's is unaware that the Big Bang is no more than a very shakey theory.
Not nearly as long as the trail of f.Christian droppings.
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