Since the first stars to show up in the young universe, astronomers continue to search for the elusive species of star known as Population III stars. James Webb Space Telescope might be just on the cusp of discovering them, new studies have revealed.
The stars these days in the universe are nothing like the initial generation of stars to appear in the cosmos. With every generation of stars which lives and dies, more metals are included to the mix, which in astronomy are heavier elements than helium and hydrogen. The presence of these metals transforms essentially the qualities of the next generation of stars.
The initial generation of stars, on the other hand, developed from a virtually perfect combination of pure helium and hydrogen, using mechanisms that we still do not completely understand. Members of the first generation of stars to show up in that primordial soup are known as Population III (or Pop III) stars, while intermediate stars are called Pop II stars, and after that the most up generation of stars are called Pop I. Astronomers have searched for decades for any remaining populations of Pop III stars in the modern-day universe to no avail.
Which means they must go back in time to go to a Pop III star. Nevertheless, observations of early epochs in the history of the universe are very hard and it is not clear if our searches will succeed. A group of astrophysicists just lately performed computer simulations of the formation of the very first stars in the universe. They examined specifically to find out if just how long Pop III stars could continue forming in the small universe.
They found that Pop – III stars in relatively mature galaxies can still show up. The galaxies had to still have reservoirs of pure hydrogen and helium. Pop III stars could still form in those pockets when the circumstances were just right. Although these stars would not be among the initial generation of stars to show up in the universe, they would still possess many of the same properties.
In their simulations, astronomers also discovered that Pop III stars might appear on the margins of really massive galaxies, where pure hydrogen and helium will continue to accrete in to the galaxy, away from the polluting impacts of stars deep in the interior of the galaxy. The simulation suggests that Pop III stars may stay inner galaxies up to the top edge of probably the deepest abilities of the James Webb Space Telescope.
This implies that JWST might be able to observe Pop III stars in distant galaxies directly.
