Astronomers look at many stars at any given time. A number of those stars hold many surprises even after much careful study. A young stat turns out to be much older than expected.
The star has long been puzzling astronomers because of the conflicting data that is being made about it. Earlier data has been showing that the star is only half as old as the Sun. However, recent analysis by researchers st Ruhr-Universitat Bochum are finding out something different about it.
Dr. Klaus Fuhrmann and Prof. Dr. Rolf Chini have said that the data they have gathered indicates that the star has actually been formed at the time the Milky Way has also been formed. The star is 49 Lib and is found at the southern hemisphere. It has a companion that is almost close to the end of its lifespan.
The dying companion star has transferred much of its material over to 49 Lib, which has made the star seem younger to many astronomers. Astronomers base a star's age by the chemical composition that it has. However, this can have its drawbacks, such as the case with 49 Lib when it gets additional material from a nearby star.
Older stars that have been formed at almost the same time as the universe do not have heavy elements in them, according to the Ruhr-Universitat Bochum's site. Those heavy elements would appear much later in the universe. Much younger stars though have heavier elements.
The older star with 49 Lib most likely became a huge red giant at some point, and could not have held on to its material for so long. Its material would then drift into space, and 49 Lib was able to get some of the heavy elements from it. The research team has also been able to determine the evolution of the stars, as Science Daily reports.
49 Lib will not be able to retain its material for so long once it becomes a red giant, much in the same way as what happened to its companion. Now it has been known that the young star turns out to be much older. Recently also SpaceX has become operational again with its launch of the Falcon 9.
