13.8 billion years ago, the entire universe was nothing but time, space, and matter. Suddenly one day, a singularity appeared, and a big bang magically happened. After the singularity big bang, time and space appeared, and elements such as hydrogen and helium appeared. After continuous evolution, there were stars, planets, and galaxies. Born.
According to the Big Bang theory, there is a big bang of singularity before the birth of time and space, and the emergence of various substances, various celestial bodies, and various galaxies. No matter how big and mysterious the celestial body is, in theory its age will not be greater than the age of the universe. I believe that every friend agrees with this.
However, in this world, there are many things that cannot be understood by common sense, and some subversive cognitions often appear. For example, the theory of quantum mechanics is very different from the macro theory, and some phenomena in quantum mechanics are completely subverted. The macro theory.
If a celestial body older than the age of the universe appeared in the universe, what would it be like? It is estimated that it will fall through the glasses of scientists. Many people may say that such a thing can never happen, is it really the case? The universe is so big that there are no wonders, and the more you think that the impossible things will often appear in front of you inadvertently.
The ancient star we are talking about today has overturned the cognition of scientists. This ancient star is HD 140283. Scientists named it “Mathusala” and is located in Libra, about 200 light-years away from the earth. The reason why it is called “Mathusala” is precisely because it is very old, so big that scientists feel incredible.
According to preliminary exploration research by scientists, it is estimated that it is 16 billion years old. Maybe many friends will say: How is this possible? The age of the universe is only 13.8 billion years old. How could it be older than the age of the universe? This is completely against the laws of science.
At the beginning, scientists also doubted this and thought it was impossible, so since Methuselah was discovered, scientists have been studying and exploring its mystery. To determine the age of Methuselah and the universe, it is necessary to determine the true age of Methuselah more accurately.
For judging the age of stars, scientists naturally have a set of more scientific models and methods. Through this set of models and methods, we have calculated the ages of many stars. This set of scientific theoretical methods is relatively reliable. What’s more, Methuselah is not too far away from us. According to observations, this ancient star appears darker because it has been converting hydrogen to helium for billions of years, and its fuel is almost exhausted. Now, there is almost no metal inside.
Of course, it is not possible to determine the age of a star more accurately with the current scientific and technological capabilities of mankind. To determine the age of a star, we rely to a large extent on its brightness. We think that the darker the star, the greater its age. Although this judgment is scientific, it is not perfect.
Later, after more observational studies, some scientists believed that the age of Methuselah was younger than originally estimated, only about 14.5 billion years. By 2014, astronomers once again lowered the age of this ancient star to about 142.7. In billions of years, taking into account the possible errors, the error value is about 7 to 8 million years.
Even though the age of this ancient star is only 14.2 billion years, this age is still 400 million years older than the 13.8 billion years of the universe. Obviously, after so many years of research and exploration, the problem of why it is older than the age of the universe has not been solved yet, and scientists have no solution to this.
Someone might say, could it be our misjudgment of the age of the universe? The true age of the universe is much older than 13.8 billion years? Scientists naturally have this kind of thinking. In fact, scientists have been studying and exploring the age of the universe, but according to the latest research data, scientists believe that the age of the universe is far less than 13.8 billion years, perhaps only 11.4 billion years old.
In recent years, scientists have continuously improved their understanding of the universe and their observation capabilities have made their age judgments of the universe more accurate. If the age of the universe is only 11.4 billion years, it is far smaller than the age of the ancient star “Mathusala.”
Research is still going on. For the age of this ancient star is greater than the age of the universe, scientists have to figure out what is going on? Is our age judgment wrong or is there a more complicated and mysterious reason? Some scientists have speculated, could it be dark matter that affected our judgment? We must know that for the dark matter that humans have been searching for, there is always a sense of mystery that accompanies it.
So far, we don’t know what the essence of dark matter and dark energy is. They are gone without a trace, seeming to be hiding and seeking with humans all the time. Many mysterious and complicated phenomena in the universe may be related to dark matter and dark energy. If the secret of this ancient star is really related to dark matter, then if we want to understand it, perhaps only if we understand dark matter can we have hope.
In fact, for the age of this ancient star is older than the age of the universe, some friends with a lot of brains also thought of a possibility, that is, it is not a star in our universe, but from other ancient universes.
I believe that my friends have heard of the multiverse. This is a conjecture proposed by scientists. They believe that there is a vast and vast space outside the universe. In this mysterious space, there are countless universes, and our universe is just one of them. A relatively young universe.
If the multiverse theory is correct, then there may be collisions between the universes. Our universe may have collided with an ancient universe. During the collision, matter and celestial bodies in the ancient universe accidentally fell into ours. In the universe, the mysterious star “Mathusala” appeared inconsistent with common sense.
Of course, this is just a guess from us. What is its origin? It also requires continuous research and exploration by scientists. The span of 200 light-years is actually a very short distance for the exaggerated cosmic scale. As long as human technology can develop to the interstellar stage and develop space jump or wormhole technology, it can quickly reach the target star position. At that time It is much easier to judge the age of this ancient star.
If in the future, scientists determine that the age of this ancient star is indeed older than the age of the universe, then its origin may only be explained by multiverse theory. It can be seen that whether the age of this ancient star is older than the age of the universe is of great significance to mankind. It may be an opportunity to reveal whether the multiverse exists.
