One of the Oldest Stars in the Galaxy has a Planet. Rocky Planets Were Forming at Nearly the Beginning of the Universe

[Seldom Bucket]

Would it be surprising to find a rocky planet that dates back to the very early Universe? It should be. The early Universe lacked the heavier elements necessary to form rocky planets.


But astronomers have found one, right here in the Milky Way.


After the Big Bang, the Universe consisted of nothing but light elements like hydrogen and helium, with a little lithium. Rocky planets require heavier elements like carbon, oxygen, and iron, which astronomers call metals. Those heavier elements can only be formed in the hearts of stars. And the first stars didn’t form until about 200 million years after the Big Bang.



Any extremely ancient planets, formed not long after the Universe began, should be gaseous, not rocky. There wasn’t enough time for stars to seed the Universe with heavy elements for rocky planets. Or was there?

One of the Oldest Stars in the Galaxy has a Planet. Rocky Planets Were Forming at Nearly the Beginning of the Universe - Universe Today

Astronomers have found a 10 billion-year-old rocky planet in the Milky Way's thick disk. Where did the heavy elements come from?

www.universetoday.com

 

[Blantyre]

The number of planets and galaxies in the universe are so astronomical that everything and anything is possible and is likely to have happened. Sadly, we won't discover most of the weird and wonderful things that happened or are happening due to the sheer numbers.

 

[Lara]

Astronomers heads are filled with space. How dare they call oxygen a metal.