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Galactic Fossil Found

Posted by timothy on from the much-older-than-dirt dept.

jazzyseth writes "This story on Nature.com's website reports "Astronomers have discovered a star on the outskirts of the Milky Way that may represent those that filled our Galaxy, and perhaps the Universe, with the chemical elements around us. This fossil from the early days of our Galaxy contains virtually no metal." Here is another link to an article on the BBC website describing the discovery of our galaxy's "oldest star"."

1 of 16 comments (clear)

  1. Question asked in article by jonnyfish · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Why have no stars been found between 1/10,000 and 1/200,000 of the Sun's metal abundance?
    Since I know next to nothing about hardcore physics, I have to ask: how long do we think it took for "mostly hydrogen, some helium, and a little lithium" to be converted into all of the naturally occuring elements of today? Is there any possible known explanation for the question asked in the article?