Astronomers have found a distant star containing 65 elements, which is more than any known star except the Sun. Among them is gold. Press release this is posted on the University of Michigan website and article It will be published in the Astrophysical Journal.
Stars are composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. However, they also contain small amounts of other elements, and more so, the “metallic” degree of the star, ie. The “metal content” in it, in the words of astrophysicists, who in this context call all elements heavier than hydrogen and helium metals. The Sun has a high “metal” content – 67 different elements have been found on it, including about 2.5 trillion tons of gold.
Now researchers led by Jan Roederer of the University of Michigan have spectroscopically studied the highly bright ninth-magnitude star HD 222925, which is part of the Milky Way. It is located in the southern constellation Tucana and emits particularly brightly in the ultraviolet range. Thanks to this, the researchers were able to identify a record 65 different elements, among them selenium, silver, tellurium, platinum, gold and thorium, including 42 heavy elements rarely found in stars.