The Universe's First Stars are Millions of Years Younger Than Previously Thought

Stars may actually be younger than astronomers first thought. The latest data release from the ESA satellite Planck consortium reveals that star formation in our universe may be relatively recent. The findings could tell researchers a bit more about the evolution of our universe.

The findings come after the analysis of data from the European Space Agency's (ESA) Planck satellite. New maps of cosmic background radiation-in particular, those containing "polarization anisotropies" of radiation-reveal that the "reionization" process could be more recent than estimated before now.

Reionization is one of the most important processes in cosmology. It's associated with star formation and occurred after the "dark ages" of the universe, which is when there was no starlight. The new data from the satellite now gives a more accurate period in which this process took place.

That said, the latest discovery still requires validation. If true, though, it may suggest that reionization may have occurred about 550 million years after the Big Bang, which is 100 million years later than previously estimated.

"According to Planck's observations, stars may be younger than believed, in bearing with other independent astrophysical indicators, and this finding may have major consequences on our attempts to understand the dark components of the universe," said Carlo Baccigalupi, SISSA cosmologist, in a news release. "The contribution of the Trieste team involved in producing maps for the LFI on board Planck-consisting of SISSA and INAF-OATS scientists coordinated by Andrea Zacchei-was to generate new maps of the polarized light seen by the LFI which cover the whole sky. Now we're awaiting data from the high-frequency instrument (HFI), whose maps are mostly constructed by the French team. These maps should provide confirmation and a clearer picture of the evidence we detected."

The findings are published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

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