Astronomers have discovered a primeval but the most pristine star ever found in the universe.
According to a research team led by Alexander Ji at the University of Chicago, the red giant star, named SDSS J0715-7334 is 20,000 times clearer and purer than the Sun.
The discovery of the star not only offers a glimpse into the first stars but also reveals the secret of the early universe after the Big Bang.
A dwarf galaxy called the Large Magellanic Cloud, which is around 163,000 light-years away from the Milky Way, is considered the origin of the star.
As per researchers’ observations, now the star has migrated to the Milky Way’s halo, making it a “galactic immigrant.”
The pristine nature of the star is often attributed to its unpolluted nature as the core is not compromised by elements heavier than helium and hydrogen.
It contains just 0.8 parts per million of heavy elements, which makes it more purer than the Sun.
The researchers, led by Alexander Ji at the University of Chicago, wrote, “The first stars formed out of pristine gas, causing them to be so massive that none are expected to have survived until today.”
“If their direct descendants were sufficiently low-mass stars, they could exist today and would be recognizable by having the lowest metallicity,” they added.