Detect oxygen in the atmosphere of ancient stars

This discovery provides important clues as to how oxygen and other key elements are created in the universe.

Astronomers from the University of California San Diego found massive amounts of oxygen in the skies in the atmosphere of one of the oldest existing stars, J0815 + 4709 . The study began 30 years ago to understand the existence of oxygen in the galaxy's oldest stars, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Artwork of the star J0815 + 4729 is formed from pieces of supernova matter in the universe.(Photo: Phys).

The discovery at the WM Keck Observatory in Hawaii, USA, helps analyze the chemical structure of this ancient star. The team observed J0815 + 4729 with 5-hour high resolution Echelle spectrophotometer to collect measurement data. The results show that, in addition to carbon, nitrogen, this ancient star has a relatively large amount of oxygen, accounting for 3% of the amount measured in the Sun.

"This discovery provides important clues about how oxygen and other key elements are created in the universe," said John O'Meara, head of the science group WM Keck Observatory.

In addition, the discovery of 16 original chemical components of this ancient star indicates that it was formed in the first hundreds of millions of years after the Big Bang or the first supernova matter on the Milky Way. Ha.

Oxygen is the third most abundant element in the universe after hydrogen and helium, is the chemical basis of respiration and is essential for all life forms on Earth, being the main elemental component of the Earth's crust. However, scientists believe that oxygen does not exist in the early universe but is created through nuclear fusion occurring deep inside ancient stars with masses 10 times the mass of the Sun. .