Students Found an Ancient Star That Shouldn’t Be in the Milky Way
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University of Chicago students discovered an ultra-ancient star with low heavy element content, originating from the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy. The star's composition provides insight into the early universe's conditions.
A team of University of Chicago undergraduate students identified an ancient star using Sloan Digital Sky Survey data. The star, SDSSJ0715-7334, has low heavy element content and originated from the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy before migrating to the Milky Way. The students analyzed SDSS data and conducted follow-up observations at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. The star's composition reveals it formed early in cosmic history, making it one of the most pristine and oldest observed. Its metallicity is 0.005% of the Sun's, more than twice as metal-poor as the previous record holder. The discovery provides insight into the early universe's conditions and demonstrates the value of big data projects in facilitating student involvement in significant discoveries.
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