BD+44°493 (α=02h 26m 49.74s, δ=+44° 57′ 46.52″ J2000.0) is the brightest known second-generation star in the sky and lies in eastern Andromeda. Image credit: Aladin Sky Atlas; Digitised Sky Survey — STScI/NASA, Coloured & Healpixed by CDS.
No one has yet observed the first stars that formed in the Milky Way. In all likelihood, they will never be directly observed, because the first stars are massive, ending their lives only a few millions years after their birth. But, astronomers can study those oldest stars by examining the elements these stars produce through nuclear fusion and the supernova explosions that mark the spectacular ends of their short lives.
Timothy Beers, the Notre Dame Chair in Astrophysics, is part of a team that has used the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) on...
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