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Strange 'Methuselah' Star Looks Older Than the Universe | Hubble Telescope | Space.com
It's worth noting that there is a margin of error of about 800 million years-enough to potentially place it back inside the previous timescale. Researchers have added that the longer they study it the more likely they are to the age to be younger than originally thought.
Even if it is on the young end, that's still a pretty old star. And 160 million light years outside of our galaxy. It must be lonely out there.
The oldest known star appears to be older than the universe itself, but a new study is helping to clear up this seeming paradox.
Previous research had estimated that the Milky Way galaxy's so-called "Methuselah star" is up to 16 billion years old. That's a problem, since most researchers agree that the Big Bang that created the universe occurred about 13.8 billion years ago.
Now a team of astronomers has derived a new, less nonsensical age for the Methuselah star, incorporating information about its distance, brightness, composition and structure.
It's worth noting that there is a margin of error of about 800 million years-enough to potentially place it back inside the previous timescale. Researchers have added that the longer they study it the more likely they are to the age to be younger than originally thought.
Even if it is on the young end, that's still a pretty old star. And 160 million light years outside of our galaxy. It must be lonely out there.