Star older than the universe discovered
According to the generally accepted Big Bang Theory, the Universe
is about 13.8 billion years old, but based on the latest data,
astronomers say that the first stars in the Universe appeared about
150-200 million years after its birth, but one of the stars is very
famous in scientific community, and its history of study is
associated with many disputes and disagreements. We are talking
about the star HD140283.
According to the latest data from the Hubble Telescope, we are
202 light years apart. The star is a yellow subgiant star that has
left the main sequence, but has not yet entered the red giant stage
- during this period, the star cools and increases in size, and its
luminosity remains practically unchanged. The core of the star
is hot, but inert, that is, the hydrogen reactions in it have
already stopped, and the helium ones have not yet begun. Despite
its status as a subgiant, it is not much larger than our Sun: it is
1.3 times heavier, 1.5 times larger and 4 times brighter. The
temperature of its surface is the same as on the Sun - about
5700C - 6000C. HD140283 is located in the constellation Libra,
almost on the border with the constellation Ophiuchus. It is
impossible to see the star with the naked eye.
Initially, a group of astronomers from Pennsylvania State University
led by Howard Bond back in 2013 (
https://bit.ly/32kJp3G), relying
on data from the Hubble telescope and spectroscopic chemical
analysis of the star's atmosphere, counted the age of the star at 16
billion years! The distance was determined accurately, since the
star does not live that far from the Sun. Astronomers decided to
clarify the data. They combined all information from different
telescopes, satellites and observatories to correct distance,
luminosity and spectral type. The distance was reduced to 190
light years, but even at this mark, the age of the star did not fit
into generally accepted ideas - 14.5 billion years with an error
of 800 million. Refinements, calculations and computer simulations
have shown in the end that HD140283 is probably about 13.3 billion
years old, and the star is only very ancient, born in the era of the
"childhood" of the Universe. But this is not the final conclusion.
And the controversy in the scientific community continues.
