Discovery: Groundbreaking data on the chemical composition of stars

Australian scientists have taken a huge step forward in understanding the Universe by publishing an impressive set of data on the chemical composition of nearly a million stars. According to the Xinhua news agency, this data set, derived from an extensive star mapping study, will form the basis of future research on the origin and evolution of galaxies. The study, carried out by astronomers at the Australian Research Council's (ARC) Center of Excellence in 3D Astrophysics for the Whole Sky (ASTRO 3D), is a collaboration between nine Australian universities. The project is coordinated by the Australian National University (ANU) and was funded by the Australian Government. Over the course of more than 10 years, the researchers used the HERMES (High Efficiency and Resolution Multi-Element Spectrograph), attached to the Anglo-Australian Telescope (AAT), to collect 1.08 million observations of 920,000 stars. HERMES is a sophisticated instrument that measures the essential chemical elements in stars, such as carbon, nitrogen and oxygen.

"We have measured the chemical elements inside these stars, which will help us better understand how these elements are produced in stars - a process essential to explaining the origins of the building blocks of life," said Sven Buder, principal investigator at ASTRO 3D and ANU. This new data set is part of the fourth phase of the Galactic Archeology with HERMES (GALAH) project, which aims to investigate the history and evolution of galaxies by studying the "stellar DNA" of our nearby stars. The publication of these data coincides with the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of the AAT telescope, Australia's largest optical telescope. Emma Ryan-Weber, director of ASTRO 3D, emphasized the importance of this data, explaining that it allows identifying the place of origin of stars, their ages and their movements. This information is crucial to understanding how galaxies formed and developed. In addition, the collected data will also have an innovative application: it will be used to train next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) in the field of astronomy, opening the way to new discoveries and understanding in this branch of science. This discovery not only enriches our knowledge of the Universe, but also provides a valuable tool for future research, accelerating our understanding of the fundamental cosmic processes that have shaped galaxies over billions of years.