2MASS J18082002-5104378 B tagged posts

The star, named 2MASS J18082002–5104378 B, is part of a two-star system orbiting around a common point.
Credit: ESO/Beletsky/DSS1 + DSS2 + 2MASS

Astronomers have found what could be one of the universe’s oldest stars, a body almost entirely made of materials spewed from the Big Bang. The discovery of this approximately 13.5 billion-year-old tiny star means more stars with very low mass and very low metal content are likely out there – perhaps even some of the universe’s very first stars.

The star is unusual because unlike other stars with very low metal content, it is part of the Milky Way’s “thin disk” – the part of the galaxy in which our own sun resides...