|
|
|
  |
|
Stellar messenger from the early Universe DR EMILY BALDWIN ASTRONOMY NOW Posted: August 21, 2009 
New observations by the Subaru Telescope of an old, bright star has shed new light on how the Universe's early stars may have developed. Old stars are keys to understanding conditions in the first stages in our Universe's 13.7 billion year life, which came into dramatic existence in the big bang. In its first throes of life the Universe was composed almost entirely of hydrogen and helium, with the synthesis of all other heavier elements, or metals, occurring inside stars. As such, older stars tend to have a lower metallicity than younger stars like our Sun. 
The chemical abundance measurements for BD+44 493 (centre) have provided new evidence of the special sort of supernovae present in the very early stages of our Galaxy. Image: STScI and AAO/ROE.
The composition of the gases from which they formed is preserved in their atmospheres, making them ideal natural laboratories for studying early conditions in the Universe, and different groups of astronomers have already found examples of metal deficient stars in our own Milky Way Galaxy. HE1327-2326 and HE0107-5240 in particular were found to exhibit an extremely low iron content alongside a remarkably high ratio of carbon and nitrogen, leading astronomers to suppose that the metal-enrichment histories of these two stars were quite different from that of other low-metal stars. Using the Subaru Telescope's High Dispersion Spectrograph, astronomers studied ninth-magnitude star BD+44 493, which was found to contain only 1/5000 of the heavy elements of the Sun and was 10 times brighter than all other known low-metallacity stars. Like the other metal-deficient stars, BD+44 493 also displayed a high abundance of carbon. While several scenarios had already been put forward to explain the chemical peculiarities of these stars – metal-poor but with a relatively high abundance of carbon – the analysis of BD+44 493's chemistry confirms one specific model. That is, at least this metal-poor star was formed from a gas cloud polluted by a supernova explosion of a first generation massive star, in line with recent studies on chemical enrichment in the Universe that revealed that stars and supernovae generate heavy elements or metals. BD+44 93 is therefore like a messenger from the past, bringing astronomers vital information regarding the first stars and supernovae. |
|
|
|
The Planets
Hubble Reborn
3D Universe |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
HOME | NEWS ARCHIVE | MAGAZINE | SOLAR SYSTEM | SKY CHART | RESOURCES | STORE | SPACEFLIGHT NOW © 2014 Pole Star Publications Ltd. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
From tiny Mercury to distant Neptune and Pluto, The Planets profiles each of the Solar System's members in depth, featuring the latest imagery from space missions. The tallest mountains, the deepest canyons, the strongest winds, raging atmospheric storms, terrain studded with craters and vast worlds of ice are just some of the sights you'll see on this 100-page tour of the planets. 
Hubble Reborn takes the reader on a journey through the Universe with spectacular full-colour pictures of galaxies, nebulae, planets and stars as seen through Hubble's eyes, along the way telling the dramatic story of the space telescope, including interviews with key scientists and astronauts. 
Witness the most awesome sights of the Universe as they were meant to be seen in this 100-page extravaganza of planets, galaxies and star-scapes, all in 3D!