2MASS J18082002−5104378 (abbreviated J1808−5104) is an ultra metal-poor (UMP) binary star system, in the constellation Ara, about 1,950 ly (600 pc)[5][6][7] from Earth, and is a single-lined spectroscopic binary (SB1). It is one of the oldest stars known, about 13.53 billion years old, possibly one of the first stars, a star made almost entirely of materials released from the Big Bang. A tiny unseen companion, a low-mass UMP star, is particularly unusual.
System
J1808−5104 is an ultra metal-poor (UMP) star, one that has a logarithmicmetallicity [Fe/H] less than −4, or 1/ 10,000 th of the levels in the Sun.[8] It is a single-lined spectroscopic binary, with radial velocity variations in its spectral absorption lines interpreted as orbital motion of the visible star. The companion is invisible, but inferred from the orbit.[1]
J1808−5104 is the brightest UMP star, as a binary system, known,[8] and is part of the "thin disk" of the Milky Way, the part of the galaxy in which the Sun is located, but unusual for such a metal-poor and old star.[9] At 13.53 Gyr, the star is the oldest known thin-disk star, and several billion years older than most estimates for the age of the Milky Way's thin disk.[1]
Primary star
The primary component of the binary star system, 2MASS J18082002−5104378 A, is a subgiant, cooler than the Sun, but larger and more luminous.[3]
Secondary star
The secondary unseen companion, 2MASS J18082002−5104378 B, thought to be a red dwarf,[5] has an orbital periodP = 34.757+0.010 −0.010 days and a mass of 0.14 M☉.[1] It is the first low-mass UMP star to be discovered, and one of the oldest stars in the universe, about 13.53 billion years old.[5] It is possibly one of the first stars, a star made almost entirely of materials released from the Big Bang.[1][10][11][9][12][13][14][15]
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