The age of the oldest known stars approaches the age of the universe, about 13.8 billion years. Some of these are among the first stars from reionization (the stellar dawn), ending the Dark Ages about 370,000 years after Big Bang.[1] These are recognized as among the oldest individual stars observed so far:

Name Age
(billions of years)
Mass
(MSun)
Radius
(RSun)
Distance Location description Description
R Doradus 14 0.85 298 178 ly Milky Way thick disk an red giant star in the constellation Dorado
The Methuselah Star or HD 140283 13.7 ± 0.7[2][a] ~0.8 2.04 190 ly[3] Milky Way, 19° north of Galactic Centre, closer than the Galactic Bulge.
2MASS J18082002−5104378 13.53[4][5] ~0.8 2.511 1,950 ly Milky Way thin disk
BD+17°3248 13.8 ± 4[6][a] ~0.8 12.6 968 ly Milky Way halo
HE 1219-0312 13.6 ~0.8 16.39 32,000 ly Milky Way halo
HD 164922 13.6 ~0.85 0.993 72 ly Milky Way halo
HD 221170[citation needed] 13.6 ~0.8 >10 1,800 ly Milky Way halo
SMSS J031300.36-670839.3 13.4[7] ~0.75 >10 6,000 ly Milky Way halo or Globular clusters
BPS CS22957-0027 or HE 2356-0410[citation needed] 13.4 ~0.8 >10 36,000 ly Milky Way halo
J173823.38-145701.1[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.85 15-25 28,000 ly Milky Way bulge
J182048.26-273329.2[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.8 15-25 20,000 ly Milky Way bulge
J183744.90-280831.1[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.8 15-25 57,400 ly Milky Way bulge
J183647.89-274333.1[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.8 15-25 22,000 ly Milky Way bulge
J183812.72-270746.3[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.8 15-25 40,100 ly Milky Way bulge
J183719.09-262725.0[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.8 15-25 32,600 ly Milky Way bulge
J184201.19-302159.6[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.8 15-25 31,000 ly Milky Way bulge
J184656.07-292351.5[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.75 15-25 31,000 ly Milky Way bulge
J181406.68-313106.1[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.8 15-25 30,000 ly Milky Way bulge
J181317.69-343801.9[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.75 15-25 21,000 ly Milky Way bulge
J181219.68-343726.4[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.75 15-25 26,000 ly Milky Way bulge
J181609.62-333218.7[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.8 15-25 33,900 ly Milky Way bulge
J181634.60-340342.5[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.8 15-25 34,200 ly Milky Way bulge
J175544.54-392700.9[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.8 15-25 44,000 ly Milky Way bulge
J175455.52-380339.3[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.8 15-25 44,000 ly Milky Way bulge
J175746.58-384750.0[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.75 15-25 30,000 ly Milky Way bulge
J181736.59-391303.3[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.8 15-25 51,200 ly Milky Way bulge
J181505.16-385514.9[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.8 15-25 16,000 ly Milky Way bulge
J181921.64-381429.0[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.8 15-25 36,500 ly Milky Way bulge
J175722.68-411731.8[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.85 15-25 40,400 ly Milky Way bulge
J175021.86-414627.1[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.8 15-25 13,000 ly Milky Way bulge
J175636.59-403545.9[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.8 15-25 32,000 ly Milky Way bulge
J175433.19-411048.9[8] 13.2 or more[9] ~0.8 15-25 18,000 ly Milky Way bulge
BPS CS22949-0037 or HE 2323-0256[citation needed] 13.2 ~0.8 18.34 22,000 ly Milky Way halo
HE 0557-4840[citation needed] 13.2 ~0.85 14.91 45,000 ly Milky Way halo
HE 1327-2326 13.2 ~0.75 0.91 4,000 ly Milky Way halo Most metal-poor known star
HE 1523-0901 13.2 ~0.8 27-36 7,500 ly Milky Way halo One of oldest star in the Milky Way
HE 2327-5642[citation needed] 13.2 ~0.8 14-20 18,000 ly Milky Way halo
HE 2252-4225[citation needed] 13 ~0.85 19.81 75,000 ly Milky Way halo
Caffau's Star or SDSS J102915+172927 13 ~0.8 0.69 4,500 ly Milky Way halo
S Orionis 13 1 411-498 1,566 ly Milky Way Orion arm
W Orionis 13 1-2 406 1,200 ly Milky Way Orion arm
SDSS J001820.5-093939.2 13 0.47 0.36 1,000 ly Milky Way halo
La Superba 13 1.2 422 1,060 ly Milky Way thick disk
R Leporis 13 0.6 490 1,364 ly Milky Way thick disk Reddest star even recorded, an red giant star in the constellation Lepus
HE 0107-5240 13 ~0.8 11.96 36,000 ly Milky Way halo
HE 0020-1741 13 ~0.8 18.53 22,000 ly Milky Way halo
Sneden's Star or BPS CS22892-0052 13 ~0.8 13.89 15,300 ly Milky Way halo
Cayrel's Star or BPS CS31082-0001 13 ~0.8 14.48 14,000 ly Milky Way halo
HD 122563 13 ~0.85 24.19 770 ly Milky Way halo
HD 130322 13 ~0.8 0.86 103 ly Milky Way halo
The following well-known stars are listed for the purpose of comparison.
Aldebaran 6.4 1.16 45.1 65.3 ly Milky Way Orion arm
Mira 6 1.18 332-402 300 ly Milky Way thick disk Wonderful star, prototype of Mira variable star
Sun 4.6 1 1 0 ly Milky Way Orion arm Orbit parent of Earth, Host star of the Solar System
Gacrux 3.2 1.5 84 88.6 ly Milky Way Orion arm Nearest M-type red giant star from Earth
Alpha Herculis 1.25 2.6 284 360 ly Milky Way Orion arm
Pollux 0.724 1.91 9.06 33.78 ly Milky Way Orion arm
119 Tauri 0.014 14.37 593 1,800 ly Milky Way Orion arm An red supergiant star
Antares 0.012 15-18 680 550 ly Milky Way disc An red supergiant star
Betelgeuse 0.01 10-25 887-1,172 638 ly Milky Way Orion arm An red supergiant star, will soon to explode into an supernova
AH Scorpii 0.008 25 1,411 7,500 ly Milky Way Scutum-Centaurus arm An red supergiant star, one of largest known star
V915 Scorpii 0.008 25 760 24,000 ly Milky Way Scutum-Centaurus arm An orange hypergiant star
UY Scuti 0.008[10] 32 1,708-1,900 9,500 ly Milky Way Scutum-Centaurus arm An red supergiant star, one of largest known star
Westerlund 1-26 0.008 25-35 1,535 14,200 ly Super star cluster Westerlund 1 An red supergiant star, one of largest known star
NML Cygni 0.007 50 1,640 5,250 ly Milky Way Orion arm An red hypergiant star, one of largest known star
VY Canis Majoris 0.007 30-40 1,420-2,069 3,900 ly Milky Way disc An red supergiant star, one of largest known star
V382 Carinae 0.007 39 747 9,000 ly Milky Way Carina-Sagittarius Arm An extreme rare yellow hypergiant star, we has discovered 12 yellow hypergiant stars in the Milky Way
Stephenson 2-18 0.007[11] 35-45 2,158 20,000 ly Open cluster Stephenson 2 An red hypergiant star, Largest known star in the universe
V509 Cassiopeiae or HR 8752 0.006[12] 35-45 400-900 15,700 ly Milky Way Perseus Arm An yellow hypergiant star with an extreme mass loss rate
HR 5171 or V766 Centauri 0.005 45-60 1,315-1,575 13,000 ly Milky Way Scutum-Centaurus arm An yellow hypergiant star with an extreme mass loss rate
WOH G64 0.005 25-35 1,788 163,000 ly Large Magellanic Cloud One of largest known star in the universe
Eta Carinae 0.003[13] 100-150 240 (60-881) 7,500 ly Carina Nebula An luminous blue variable star, one of most massive star

Footnotes edit

  1. ^ a b Note conflicting estimates: Star’s estimated age exceeds the estimated age of the universe.

References edit

  1. ^ Barkana, Rennan (1 March 2018). "Possible interaction between baryons and dark-matter particles revealed by the first stars". Nature. 555 (7694): 71–74. arXiv:1803.06698. Bibcode:2018Natur.555...71B. doi:10.1038/nature25791. PMID 29493590. S2CID 4391544.
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  3. ^ David Crookes (7 March 2022). "Methuselah: The oldest star in the universe". Space.com. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  4. ^ Schlaufman, Kevin C.; Thompson, Ian B.; Casey, Andrew R. (5 November 2018). "An ultra metal-poor star near the hydrogen-burning limit". The Astrophysical Journal. 867 (2): 98. arXiv:1811.00549. Bibcode:2018ApJ...867...98S. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/aadd97. S2CID 54511945.
  5. ^ "One of Milky Way's oldest stars discovered". SciNews.com. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
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  7. ^ Ishigaki, Miho N.; Tominaga, Nozomu; Kobayashi, Chiaki; Nomoto, Ken'ichi (2014). "Faint Population III supernovae as the origin of the most iron-poor stars". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 792 (2): L32. arXiv:1404.4817. Bibcode:2014ApJ...792L..32I. doi:10.1088/2041-8205/792/2/L32. S2CID 119012372.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w
    Howes, L.M.; Casey, A.R.; Asplund, M.; Keller, S.C.; Yong, D.; Nataf, D.M.; et al. (26 November 2015). "Extremely metal-poor stars from the cosmic dawn in the bulge of the Milky Way". Nature. 527 (7579): 484–487. arXiv:1511.03930. Bibcode:2015Natur.527..484H. doi:10.1038/nature15747. hdl:2299/19217. PMID 26560034. S2CID 4446599.
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  10. ^ Arroyo-Torres, B.; Wittkowski, M.; Marcaide, J. M.; Hauschildt, P. H. (2013). "The atmospheric structure and fundamental parameters of the red supergiants AH Scorpii, UY Scuti, and KW Sagittarii". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 554: A76. arXiv:1305.6179. Bibcode:2013A&A...554A..76A. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201220920. S2CID 73575062.
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