Scientists looked inside the Milky Way. There they found what they called “poor heart.”

The researchers based their research on measurements from The most accurate 3D map of our galaxy Neural networks were used to analyze the chemical composition of more than two million stars. Thanks to these actions, astronomers have discovered as many as 18,000 stars It was formed before the formation of the Milky Way. These stars scattered in the center of our galaxy are what is left of it old kernelWhen primordial galaxies still existed.

According to research leader Dr Hans-Walter Rex from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy: “Our results are remarkable Enrich the existing image (galaxies – ed.), which indicates that there is indeed a closely related ‘iceberg’ at the site, the top of which has already been identified.

As scientists point out, star clusters can be discovered based on their common features, for example their movement or chemical composition (metallic). Analyzes of this type are performed using European Space Agency’s Gaia space observatory. This spacecraft tracks stars by measuring their three-dimensional positions and motions in the galaxy, as well as studying their metallicity.

considered it Stars with similar chemical compositions may have formed at the same time and in the same place. In addition, thanks to this, we can find out the age of a particular cosmic object, because some elements did not exist in the Universe until there were stars that created them.

The primordial universe, that is, the one immediately following it the great explosion (13.8 billion years ago), it consisted mainly of hydrogen mixed with helium and some other elements. The heavier elements were formed in the cores of the first stars to form. After stars lose their ability to fuse, they die, often in a large explosion called a supernova, a process that “sprays” matter across the universe. Heavier metals are also produced during the explosion itself. The next generation of stars then captures these elements as they form.

Scientists believe that The later a star forms, the more metals it containsA higher metal ratio thus indicates a younger star, and metal-poor cosmic bodies that are older. If there is a group of stars in the universe with the same composition and orbital path, they are likely to be said to have formed at the same time.

In their analyzes, the science team used and focused on data from Gaia red giants. Astronomers have recorded a group of stars with similar ages and orbits, which indicates that they existed before the formation of our galaxy.

The oldest stars in Milky Way It existed even before the first major cosmic collision with the Gaia-Enceladus galaxy. The new populations described by the astronomers appear to be their own close-knit groups. Rex will call herPoor heart” of the Milky WayBecause these stars are poor in metals, they are also very old and are located in the center of our galaxy. According to scientists, they are remnants of earlier, primordial galaxies. The constellations in question formed only after the stars died from Primordial galaxies Their age is estimated at more than 12.5 billion years.

The protogalaxies, according to the researchers, were only “seedsand “Full Galaxies”. The Milky Way was formed by the merger of three or four such “seeds”. Astrophysical Journal.