31
October 2002
The Milky Way: A stellar relic
There is widespread interest in how our Galaxy was formed and how and where the first heavy elements were created. Recent debate has centred on whether the first stars were all very massive, or whether the first stellar generation included some low-mass stars, with sufficiently long lifetimes for them to be observable today. The discovery of a star with an iron abundance 20 times lower than previously recorded suggests that some early stars may still exist, and that they may allow direct study of almost pristine gas from the Big Bang.
A stellar relic from the early Milky Way
N. CHRISTLIEB, M. S. BESSELL, T. C. BEERS, B. GUSTAFSSON,
A. KORN, P. S. BARKLEM, T. KARLSSON, M. MIZUNO-WIEDNER & S. ROSSI
Nature
419, 904–906 (2002); doi:10.1038/nature01142
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Astronomy: Relic of the dawn of time
CATHERINE
A. PILACHOWSKI
Elements heavier than helium are synthesized in stars. But
could there be stars, created soon after the Big Bang, that contain almost no
heavy elements? The discovery of such a star gives new clues to this early time.
Nature 419, 886–887 (2002); doi:10.1038/419886a
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