What were the first stars in the Universe like?

The galaxy IC1613 is a kind of Treasure Island for those investigating massive stars.  This irregular dwarf galaxy is still forming stars, and we find new ones every time we point the GTC towards this galaxy. These objects experience high temperatures in
The galaxy IC1613 is a kind of Treasure Island for those investigating massive stars.  This irregular dwarf galaxy is still forming stars, and we find new ones every time we point the GTC towards this galaxy. These objects experience high temperatures in
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The first stars to form after the Big Bang and the Dark Era were very massive and played a leading role during the reionization epoch. From that moment onwards photons could travel unhindered  in space, bringing us information about distant objects. The main difference between the first stars and those seen at present is that the former were formed solely from hydrogen and helium, in the absence of metals. Metal-poor massive stars are therefore fundamental to our understanding of the early stages of the Universe. New observations with the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS(GTC) take us a step closer to understanding stars in the early Universe. This work has been published in the journal  Astronomy & Astrophysics.

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