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Oldest Star Discovered ...... 13.6 billion yrs.

spiney2spiney2 Posts: 27,058
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in General Discussion #1
found by skymapper telescope. imaging then computer analysis .....

age revealed by v. low iron content in spectrum. star formed not long after big bang.

...... most detected old astronomical objects are distant galaxies very far away (and a long time ago) but this one is "close by" at just 20 000 lightyears ........

sorry no link here but googling will get loadsa stuff ........

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    Eddie BadgerEddie Badger Posts: 6,005
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    #2
    I thought Bruce Forsythe was the oldest star :)
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,334
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    #3
    Assuming the star I've read about is the same one, the sources I've read say it is 6, 000 light years away. :confused:

    Still not as old as my mum though. :p
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    spiney2spiney2 Posts: 27,058
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    #4
    oops sorry. my mistake. that makes it almost reachable on virgin trains .......
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    spiney2spiney2 Posts: 27,058
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    #5
    .... the discovery is just luck but it will give clues about the chemistry and behaviour of oldest stars back when the universe was quite new and still very hot unlike brucie .........
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    ÆnimaÆnima Posts: 38,548
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    #6
    That's interesting, a star in the milky way being as old as that!
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    dee123dee123 Posts: 46,274
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    #7
    So the oldest star isn't Betty White?
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    SaddlerSteveSaddlerSteve Posts: 4,325
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    #8
    A_Zombie wrote: »
    Assuming the star I've read about is the same one, the sources I've read say it is 6, 000 light years away. :confused:

    Still not as old as my mum though. :p

    Light years is how far away it is in distance.
    Not the same as how old it is.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,334
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    #9
    SaddlerSteve wrote: »
    Light years is how far away it is in distance.
    Not the same as how old it is.

    I know the difference, the original poster said it was 20,000 light years away. I was correcting that from what I read.
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    spiney2spiney2 Posts: 27,058
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    #10
    yeah that was me. sorry. what i said would put it outside any galaxy. probably. which is a bit unlikely. but i havent checked that distance for plausibillity either ......
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    ÆnimaÆnima Posts: 38,548
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    #11
    spiney2 wrote: »
    yeah that was me. sorry. what i said would put it outside any galaxy. probably. which is a bit unlikely. but i havent checked that distance for plausibillity either ......

    Not necessarily.

    The Milky Way is 100,000 lght years across, so it could be 20,000 light years away from us and still be in the milky way- it just depends in which direction.
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    SULLASULLA Posts: 149,789
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    #12
    That's not exactly precise. :(
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    getzlsgetzls Posts: 4,007
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    #13
    No more than 6000 years old. :cool:

    Awaits the debate. :D
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    ÆnimaÆnima Posts: 38,548
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    #14
    getzls wrote: »
    No more than 6000 years old. :cool:

    Awaits the debate. :D

    Eh?! :confused:
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    SaddlerSteveSaddlerSteve Posts: 4,325
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    #15
    getzls wrote: »
    No more than 6000 years old. :cool:

    Awaits the debate. :D

    It's 13.6 billion years old.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,749
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    #16
    It's 13.6 billion years old but the light took 6000 years to reach us? Why hasn't it died? I didnt think stars lived that long.
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    SaddlerSteveSaddlerSteve Posts: 4,325
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    #17
    Chocdoc wrote: »
    It's 13.6 billion years old but the light took 6000 years to reach us? Why hasn't it died? I didnt think stars lived that long.

    Depends how big it is and from reading an article earlier this star is 60 times bigger than our nearest star (the Sun).

    Bear in mind the Sun is 4.6 billion years old and only halfway through its life cycle. This new star being a lot bigger has more fuel to burn so could be around a lot longer.
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    ÆnimaÆnima Posts: 38,548
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    #18
    Chocdoc wrote: »
    It's 13.6 billion years old but the light took 6000 years to reach us? Why hasn't it died? I didnt think stars lived that long.

    The length of a stars life is hugely variable.

    Larger stars with higher energy outputs tend to burn out much quicker, whereas small dwarf stars can burn for tens of billions of years.
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