A new first-generation star candidate, nicknamed Hebe, could be the oldest trace of these celestial bodies. Observed as a bright gas cloud 450 million years after the Big Bang, its chemical signature lacks elements heavier than helium. This finding, detailed in three studies on arXiv.org, pushes back the date of Population III stars, which were previously detected near one billion years after the cosmos began.
How the absence of metals reveals the first stars 🌌
Astronomers identified Hebe by analyzing its light spectrum with space telescopes. The lack of carbon, oxygen, or iron indicates that the gas was not enriched by supernovae from later stars. This suggests that Population III stars, massive and short-lived, already existed at that time. The finding is based on stellar formation models that predict these stars only contained hydrogen and helium, elements from the Big Bang.
Hebe: the star that arrived late to the cosmic party 🎉
It seems that in the universe, there are also lines to be first. Hebe beats other candidates by a good 500 million years, like that friend who arrives at the party before the music starts. Of course, being a gas cloud without metals, it's not going to sign autographs. But at least it shows that the primordial stars were not a myth; they were just waiting to be caught with the telescope aimed.