1 of 1
Story summary
- Astronomers have identified an ancient star, PicII-503, in the dwarf galaxy Pictor II, about 149,000 light-years from Earth.
- PicII-503 has extremely low heavy elements, with iron at 1/43,000 and calcium at 1/160,000 of the Sun’s abundance, and carbon excess.
- Researchers describe the finding as "cosmic archaeology" about the chemical makeup of early stars.
- The discovery advances understanding of element formation and the transition from first- to second-generation stars.
