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Lighting the universe

Rethinking what the fir st star s wer e like

By Ron Cowen

Web edition : July 15, 2011

Prin t edition : July 30, 2011; Vol.180 #3(p. 26)

Th e Big Ban g wasn t all it h as been cracked up to be. Sure, it

created th e un iverse. But after th e h eat of th e primordial fireball
faded, th e cosmos plun g ed in to darkn ess. Th e un iverse was cold
an d blacka sea of h ydrog en an d h elium atoms mixed with a
mysterious dark form of matter makin g its presen ce kn own on ly
by its g ravity. No stars.

It took a series of violen t even tsstartin g about 100 million years

after th e Big Ban g to en d th e cosmic Dark Ag es. First, th e even ly Co mputer s imulatio ns are
revealing ho w the earlies t
spread dark matter g ath ered in to clumps, pullin g in h ydrog en g as s tars fo rmed, fo rc ing
th at coalesced in to clouds. Th en pressure in side th e clouds g rew s c ientis ts to rethink
exis ting theo ries . Here, a
stron g en oug h to fuse atoms, trig g erin g n uclear reaction s. Th e s imulatio n s ho ws two s tar-
first stars created th is way looked like roses with diaph an ous fo rming regio ns c o ales c ing
petals, un foldin g ag ain st a sea of darkn ess. Th e un iverse was fro m c lo uds o f gas abo ut
200 millio n years after the
fin ally in bloom. Big Bang.

Th e first stars marked a mileston e in th e h istory of th e un iverse, Credit:Simulatio n: Matthew

Turk, Brian OShea and T.
brin g in g lig h t an d warmth back to th e cosmos. Later, th ose Abel, Image: Ralf Kaelher
primeval stars met th eir en d in spectacular explosion s kn own as and T. Abel
supern ovas, wh ich seeded th e un iverse with its first dollops of
oxyg en , carbon an d silicon . Th ose elemen ts made it possible for a
secon d g en eration of stars to form.

Th e secon d-g en stars even tually burn ed th roug h th e opaque fog of h ydrog en atoms an d
set th e skies twin klin g . Th ese stars g ath ered in to th e first recog n izable g alaxiesdwarf
g alaxies of a few million stars. Dwarf g alaxies merg ed, an d after billion s of years life
emerg ed in on e of th e big g er g alaxies, on a smallish backwater plan et called Earth .

On th at much , astron omers ag ree. But n ew simulation s th at track th e star-formation

process furth er th an ever before are castin g doubt on earlier ideas about th e properties of
th e first stars. Th eyve been cast as lon ers an d extremely massive, for in stan ce. But n ow th e
massive-lon er th eory is in dispute. An d th at h as profoun d con sequen ces for n early
everyth in g th at h appen ed n ext, because th e mass of th e first stars may h ave determin ed th e
size of th e first g alaxies an d h ow quickly th e secon d g en eration of stars could assemble to
form th em.

Th ere is widespread con fusion an d disag reemen t, says astron omer Jason Tumlin son of
th e Space Telescope Scien ce In stitute in Baltimore. I can n o lon g er say with an y
con fiden ce wh at th e first stars were like. But, h e adds, th ats wh at makes th e field so
excitin g .

New simulations, new ideas

Retracin g th e steps of star formation is a tricky busin ess. Less

th an a decade ag o, computer simulation s by Tom Abel of
Stan fords Kavli In stitute for Particle Astroph ysics an d Cosmolog y
an d h is colleag ues in dicated th at th e first stars were wh oppers
between 30 an d 300 times as h eavy as th e sun an d th at each
formed in solitary con fin emen t with in separate clouds of g as (SN:
6/8/02, p. 362). Th e g as sh owed n o sig n of frag men tin g in to
several stars; in stead, it appeared th at th e con den sin g object
would keep g rowin g to become on e beh emoth . An d because
massive stars die out in just a few million years, n on e of th ese first
Rec ent s imulatio ns have
stars could still exist in th e un iverse today. s ho wn that s o me o f the
firs t s tars may have
Alth oug h th e research ers could follow th e steps toward star fo rmed as twins o r even
triplets . Here, s tar
formation durin g th e first 100 million years or so of cosmic embryo s (c ro s s es ) fo rm in
h istory, th ey could n ot track th e addition al 100,000 years it takes a s wirling c lo ud o f
hydro gen and helium gas .
for an in fan t star to g row to its fin al size. Th e team h ad to stop
because supercomputers couldn tan d still can tprecisely track Credit:P. Clark, S. Glo ver, R.
Smith, T. Greif, R. Kles s en,
th e rapid ch an g es in den sity a cloud core un derg oes as it becomes V. Bro mm
a star.

Usin g a math ematical trick, h owever, oth er teams h ave n ow g on e

slig h tly furth er, simulatin g about 1,000 years more of th e star-formation process. Rath er
th an attemptin g to track th e rapid ch an g es in th e den se cloud core, th ese teams in effect
ig n ore th e core, treatin g it as a sin k or black h ole, with material fallin g on to th e cen tral
reg ion simply disappearin g from sig h t.

Adoptin g th at approach , th e research ers h ave foun d eviden ce th at a disk of material th at

forms aroun d each of th e embryon ic stars can frag men t in to several fledg lin g stars, much
th e way th e disk of material aroun d th e in fan t sun broke in to clumps th at formed th e
plan ets (SN: 2/26/11, p. 18).

Th e n et result, as th ese astroph ysicists n ow see it, is th at stars could h ave been born in
pairs or even th reesomes. Sin ce th ey coalesce from th e same cloud, each partn er would be
lig h ter th an if it h ad formed in solitary con fin emen t.

Wh eth er at th e en d of th is process on e, two or a few massive stars

Wh eth er at th e en d of th is process on e, two or a few massive stars
will remain is curren tly un kn own , says Abel. Some studies even
sug g est th at very small frag men ts, weig h in g n o more th an th e
mass of th e sun , mig h t form. Because low-mass stars take billion s
of years to burn out, some of th e first stars could h ave survived to
th e presen t day, some research ers sug g est.
SWISS CHEESE
To fin d out wh at th e first stars were like, research ers are n ow View larger image |
lookin g to th e scars th ose stars left beh in dth e exten t to wh ich Res earc hers ho pe to
th ey broke apart n earby atoms of h ydrog en g as. rec o ns truc t the s tar-
fo rmatio n pro c es s during
the firs t billio n years o f
For in stan ce, if most of th e first stars were sin g le an d massive, c o s mic his to ry by
th ey would h ave tran sformed th e early un iverse in to a g ian t h un k meas uring the brightnes s
o f 21-c entimeter radio
of Swiss ch eese. Th ats because big stars emit copious amoun ts of waves emitted by
ultraviolet lig h t, wh ich ion izes surroun din g g asesstrippin g hydro gen relative to the
c o s mic mic ro wave
electron s from th e n eutral h ydrog en an d h elium atoms th at veiled bac kgro und (c hart,
th e cosmos durin g th e Dark Ag es. Th e birth of each in dividual star bo tto m). Ho les s ho uld
would create an ion ized bubble, or h ole, in th e g ases aroun d it. appear (to p, left to right)
where radiatio n emitted by
Over time, th e un iverse would be riddled with th ese h oles. On ce th e s tars io niz ed hydro gen
h oles g rew larg e en oug h to overlap, th e un iverse would be almost ato ms , s tripping elec tro ns .
As mo re s tars fo rmed, the
completely ion izedas eviden ce sug g ests it h as been ever sin ce ho les wo uld gro w and
th e cosmos was a few h un dred million years old. merge, leaving the
univers e c o mpletely
io niz ed as it is to day. By
But if th e very first stars were extremely massive, th ey could h ave s eeing ho w quic kly
preven ted oth er stars from formin g . Th e en erg y from th eir io niz atio n pro c eeded,
ultraviolet emission s would break molecules of h ydrog en in to s c ientis ts ho pe to learn
whether the firs t s tars
atoms. With out h ydrog en molecules, wh ich provide a clump- fo rmed s ingly o r in
promotin g coolin g effect, th e dark matter at th e h eart of star multiples .
formation would n ot h ave en oug h g ravity to pull g as in to a star. Credit:Texas Advanc ed
Co mputing Center; J.
If th e n ew simulation s sh owin g th at primeval stars were born with Pritc hard & A. Lo eb/Nature
2010
partn ers are correct, th e un iverse mig h t n ever h ave g on e th roug h
a Swiss ch eese ph ase, Zoltn Haiman of Columbia Un iversity
th in ks. If th e partn ersh ips were close en oug h , on e star would be
more likely to collapse to become a black h ole an d draw matter from th e oth er, emittin g X-
rays in th e process. Far more pen etratin g th an ultraviolet lig h t, th e X-rays would rapidly
strip electron s from h ydrog en an d h elium atoms th roug h out th e cosmos, leavin g a
un iformly ion ized un iverse in stead of h oles, Haiman sug g ested in th e April 7 Nature.

Th e stellar-partn ersh ip scen ario could explain an en durin g puzzle in th e un iverse today,
sug g ests a team led by I. Flix Mirabel of th e Fren ch Atomic an d Altern ative En erg ies
Commission in Gif-sur-Yvette, Fran ce an d th e In stitute for Astron omy an d Space Ph ysics in
Buen os Aires. Th e leadin g th eory of dark matter predicts th at th e Milky Way sh ould be
surroun ded by h un dreds of dwarf g alaxies, but observers h ave foun d on ly about 25.
Mirabels team sug g ests in th e April Astronomy & Astrophysics th at th e oth er dwarf g alaxies
exist but can t be seen because th eyre starlesssh adowy leftovers from th e early un iverse,
wh en such g alaxies were too small to eith er forg e or h old on to th e first stars.

Research ers, h owever, don t ag ree on h ow th ese X-rayemittin g

Research ers, h owever, don t ag ree on h ow th ese X-rayemittin g
partn ersh ips would affect th e un iverse. Accordin g to Haiman , th e
partn ers would emit so much more h eat th an a lon e star th at th ey
would delay th e formation of th e first g alaxies.
AFTER THE BANG
Th e extra h eat from th e stellar partn ers could boost th e
temperature an d pressure of surroun din g g ases an d preven t an y View larger image | The
univers e was a quiet plac e
clump of matter weig h in g less th an a billion sun s from corrallin g fo r millio ns o f years after
th e g as to make n ew stars. Waitin g aroun d un til dark matter the Big Bang, plunged into
darknes s when elec tro ns
clumps were th at h eavy may h ave delayed th e on set of g alaxy and pro to ns c o o led
formation by 100,000 years. eno ugh to c o mbine into
neutral hydro gen ato ms .
To day, s c ientis ts are
But oth er astron omers disag ree. Some th eorists arg ue th at rath er rec o ns truc ting the s eries
th an delayin g th e first g alaxies, X-rayemittin g bin aries would o f events that led to the
promote coolin g th at would h asten star formation . Tumlin son firs t s tars , galaxies and
ultimately the univers e as
n otes th at th roug h a ch ain of ch emical reaction s, X-rays would s een to day.
promote th e formation of th e HD molecule, in wh ich on e h ydrog en
Credit:Fro m left:
atom is replaced by its h eavier isotope, deuterium. Th at molecule pederk/is to c kpho to ; T.
mig h t act as a n ew coolan t. Dub; Detlev van
Ravens waay/Pho to
Res earc hers , Inc .; Hubble
People arg ue about th is for h ours at meetin g s an d still th eres n o Heritage
con sen sus, n otes Tumlin son . Team/STSCI/AURA/NASA;
Jo hn H. Wis e; NASA, JPL-
Caltec h, T. Pyle/SSC;
Gr ound tr uth NASA, ESA, Hubble
Heritage Team/STSc I/AURA
As th e th eorists con tin ue to debate th eir models, observation s to
test th eir ideas are about to beg in .

New arrays of radio telescopes will look for imprin ts th at th e first stars left beh in d on th e
clouds of h ydrog en atoms surroun din g th em. Radio astron omers can tun e in to radio
waves from h ydrog en atoms th at existed at differen t epoch s of th e Dark Ag esbefore,
durin g an d after th e first stars formedth an ks to sh ifts in wavelen g th caused by th e
expan sion of th e un iverse.

In particular, astron omers will look for radio emission s with wavelen g th s of 21
cen timeters, wh ich n eutral h ydrog en emits but ion ized h ydrog en can n ot. If th e Swiss
ch eese model is correct an d th e first stars were massive lon ers, observers sh ould see th e
h oles created wh en th e stars broke apart th e n eutral h ydrog en atoms.

By usin g 21-cen timeter radiation to pin poin t if an d wh en h oles formed an d merg ed, low-
frequen cy radio telescopes such as LOFAR, a set of radio dish es spread across th e
Neth erlan ds an d oth er parts of Europe, will map out th e h istory of th e first stars, says Avi
Loeb of th e Harvard-Smith son ian Cen ter for Astroph ysics in Cambridg e, Mass. Such maps
sh ould in dicate wh eth er th e first stars were massive lon ers after all.

Last year in Physical Review D, Loeb an d h is Harvard-Smith son ian colleag ue Jon ath an
Pritch ard calculated th at even a relatively in expen sive sin g le radio dish th at would record
th e in ten sity of th e 21-cen timeter radio emission averag ed over th e en tire sky could
in dicate wh en th e first stars were born an d h ow quickly th ey ion ized h elium an d h ydrog en
atoms by emittin g ultraviolet lig h t or X-rays.

Oth er research ers are attemptin g to read a fossil record of th e elemen ts cast in to space by
th e very first g en eration of stars. Th eorist Joh n Wise of Prin ceton Un iversity an d h is
colleag ues are tryin g to simulate th e secon d g en eration of stars, dubbed Pop II, wh ich are
th e first stars th at g ot in corporated in to g alaxies. Because Pop II stars are small en oug h to
be relatively lon g -lived, research ers can examin e th em to see wh at th ey in h erited from th eir
paren ts g en eration .

Astron omers are actually able to see Pop II stars in g alaxies an d learn about th eir
predecessors, says Wise. In addition to g ian t, 30-meter g roun d-based telescopes th at
astron omers are n ow plan n in g to build, th e James Webb Space Telescope, wh ich
research ers h ope will laun ch late th is decade, will closely examin e Pop II stars from th e
first g alaxies.

But research ers aren t just waitin g for Webb to be laun ch ed. Astron omers usin g th e
European South ern Observatorys Very Larg e Telescope in Ch ile are g ettin g a h ead start by
re-examin in g th e surfaces of eig h t elderly Milky Way stars. Th e stars are at least 12 billion
years old an d are probably members of th e Pop II g en eration , Cristin a Ch iappin i of th e
Leibn iz In stitute for Astroph ysics Potsdam in German y an d h er colleag ues report in th e
April 28 Nature.

Th e team foun d h ig h abun dan ces of two rare, h eavy elemen tsstron tium an d yttrium
relative to iron . To explain th e composition of th ose secon d-g en eration stars, th e
research ers propose th at th e first stars were massive an d rotated rapidly, spin n in g about
250 times faster th an th e sun . By mixin g differen t layers of n uclear-burn in g g ases, th ese
wh irlin g dervish es could trig g er a ch ain of n uclear reaction s th at could h ave produced th e
h ig h levels of stron tium an d yttrium.

If th e first stars were fast rotators, th ey would be more likely to en d th eir lives as g amma-
ray bursts, Tumlin son n otes in a commen tary accompan yin g th e Naturearticle. Such bursts
are th e most powerful explosion s in th e un iverse an d would serve as cosmic fireworks th at
would brillian tly sig n al th e first stars demise.

Th e bursts would be th e ultimate messen g ersdeath th roes th at traveled billion s of lig h t-

years th roug h space to reach Earth . For Loeb, recordin g th ose sig n als would be th e th rill
of a lifetime. Th is is our roots, our orig in s, h e says. Th e bursts would put h uman s face to
face with our earliest an cestors, on e star at a time.

Ron Cowen is a freelance science writer in Maryland.

Citations

C. Ch iappin i et al. Imprin ts of fast-rotatin g massive stars in th e g alactic bulg e. Nature, Vol.
472, April 28, 2011, p. 454. doi:10.1038/n ature10000.

I.F. Mirabel et al. Stellar black h oles at th e dawn of th e un iverse. Astron omy &
Astroph ysics, Vol. 528, Apirl 2010, p. A149. DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361/201016357. Available
on lin e: [Go to].

J.P. Pritch ard an d A. Loeb. Con strain in g th e un explored period between reion ization an d
th e dark ag es with observation s of th e g lobal 21 cm sig n al. Ph ysical Review D, Vol. 82, July
23, 2010. Available on lin e: [Go to]

J. Tumlin son . A n ew spin on th e first stars. Nature, Vol. 472, April 28, 2011, p. 426.

Sug g ested Reading

R. Cowen , First stars may still sh in e. Scien ce News, Vol. 179, February 26, 2011, p. 18.
Available on lin e: [Go to]
R. Cowen . How a star is born . Scien ce News on lin e, July 31, 2008. [Go to]

R. Cowen . Cosmic Dawn . Scien ce News, Vol. 161, Jun e 8, 2002, p. 362. Available on lin e: [Go
to]

A. Loeb. How did th e first stars an d g alaxies form? Prin ceton Un iversity Press, 2010.

See simulation s of th e first stars by Tom Abel an d

colleag ues: www.slac.stan ford.edu/~tabel/GB/in dex.h tml