Astronomers May Have Found the First Generation of Stars After the Big Bang

Thousands of stars. Credit: ESA

Astronomers whitethorn person taken the closest measurement yet toward identifying the archetypal stars calved aft the Big Bang. A caller survey led by Ari Visbal of the University of Toledo points to a distant galaxy, LAP1-B, arsenic a beardown campaigner for hosting the universe’s earliest stellar generation, known arsenic Population III stars.

These stars person ne'er been observed directly. Scientists judge they were made lone of hydrogen and helium — the earthy elements formed successful the Big Bang — with lone traces of lithium. Heavier elements, called metals successful astronomy, did not beryllium yet. That makes Population III stars antithetic from each prima seen today, including the Sun.

The stars are believed to person formed astir 200 cardinal years aft the beingness began. They burned retired agelong ago, which is wherefore astronomers hunt for their faint, past signatures alternatively of the stars themselves.

Why past candidates were ruled out

For decades, respective imaginable detections person been proposed, but each failed to conscionable 3 halfway predictions. The archetypal stars should signifier wrong tiny dark-matter halos, dwell of highly monolithic stars, and look lone successful tiny clusters. If immoderate of these features are missing, the entity is ruled retired arsenic a existent Population III system.

The First Stars of the Universe Have Been Discovered

Astronomers from the University of Texas astatine Austin person discovered the postulation GLIMPSE-16403, which whitethorn incorporate the archetypal stars of the Universe — Population III. These past stars formed astir 13 cardinal years ago, erstwhile space… pic.twitter.com/FivI3JeTU9

— Black Hole (@konstructivizm) March 12, 2025

New grounds points to LAP1-B

The caller research, published successful The Astrophysical Journal Letters, argues that LAP1-B is the archetypal entity to fulfill each 3 conditions. The squad reports that the strategy formed wrong a dark-matter halo with a wide of astir 50 cardinal Suns — astir precisely what theoretical models predict.

The stars themselves look massive, ranging from 10 to 1,000 times the wide of the Sun. They are grouped successful tiny clusters totaling lone a fewer 1000 star masses, matching the expected enactment pattern.

Gas astir the strategy supports the finding

The state surrounding LAP1-B contains astir nary metals, a cardinal indicator of a young, early-universe environment. The researchers accidental this apt reflects a infinitesimal conscionable aft the archetypal stars exploded arsenic supernovae, releasing the earliest dense elements but not yet enriching the state beyond hint levels.

Not confirmed yet, but a roadmap for aboriginal searches

The findings are not yet final. Key uncertainties remain, including however overmuch worldly the archetypal supernovae released and whether existent machine models afloat bespeak the physics of the young universe. More information volition beryllium needed earlier LAP1-B tin beryllium confirmed arsenic the location of the archetypal stars.

Still, the detection marks a large measurement forward. The squad utilized the James Webb Space Telescope on with gravitational lensing, which amplified the faint airy from LAP1-B. Researchers accidental this method could present uncover much Big Bang–era systems hidden successful heavy space.

“LAP1-B whitethorn lone correspond the extremity of the iceberg successful presumption of the survey of Pop III stars with gravitational lensing from postulation clusters,” the squad wrote.