Studying the individual elements present in stars’ atmospheres is one of the least glamorous, but most data-rich, ways we can observe our universe. From figuring out the mysteries of weird events, to figuring out the history of star formation, spectra have a lot of uses, and a team using the Keck telescope in Hawaii recently used it’s high resolution spectrograph to find an ancient star whose composition may be enriched by only one or a few prior supernovae. This star, J0815+4729, is mostly hydrogen and helium, and its abundance of most heavier elements, like calcium and iron, are about 1 millionth of what we see in the Sun. There are 3 notable exceptions however – its carbon percentage is only 10% of the Sun, and it’s nitrogen and oxygen are 8% and 3% of the Sun. This enhancement in carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen tells us these elements were created in greater amounts by the earliest stars. By finding a studying more of these ancient stars, we will be able to build up a picture of how the composition of our universe has changed over time, as we see stars of different ages with different compositions. This kind of detailed work is exactly what the team behind this discovery is doing, and we look forward to covering their future results. 

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Astronomers Detect Large Amounts Of Oxygen In Ancient Star’s Atmosphere (Keck)