Star PicII-503 in Pictor II ultra-faint dwarf galaxy (IMAGE)

Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA)

Star PicII-503 in Pictor II ultra-faint dwarf galaxy

Caption

This image shows the star PicII-503, with the lowest iron content ever measured outside of the Milky Way. With less than 1/40,000th the amount of iron as the Sun, PicII-503 is the clearest example of a star within a primordial system that preserves the chemical enrichment of the Universe’s first stars. PicII-503 also has an extreme overabundance of carbon, providing the missing link to connect carbon-enhanced stars observed in the Milky Way halo to an origin in ancient dwarf galaxies.

Credit

CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA Image processing: Image Processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin (NSF NOIRLab) Acknowledgment: PI: Anirudh Chiti, Alex Drlica-Wagner

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CC BY

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