The oldest star in the universe: Astronomers find HD 140283 is at least 13.2 billion years old
Worldwide, Daily news | ankakh | January 14, 2013 23:36
More than a century after it was first observed by astronomers a star has been identified as the oldest yet seen in the universe.
The star is just 186 light years away from Earth and is at least 13.2 billion years old, and quite possibly many millions of years older than that.
The Big Bang is calculated by scientists to have taken place about 13.77 billion years ago and the star, known only as HD 140283, was among the earliest stars to form.
Because it contains some heavy elements it is thought to have been one of the second generation of stars to be created following the Big Bang.
The first generation of stars contained hardly any elements heavier than helium but when they exploded in a succession of supernovas within a few hundred million years after forming they were replaced by stars like HD 140283.
One other star, known as Methuselah2, has previously been shown to be 13.2 billion years old but the research team are confident they have determined HD 140283’s age with greater certainty.
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