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  • The Atlantic

    A Tantalizing Signal From the Early Universe

    Astronomers have found evidence of the first stars igniting in cold, dark gas, a detection with huge implications for our understanding of the cosmos.
    by Marina Koren Feb 28, 2018 5 minutes
    Source: N.R. Fuller / National Science Foundation

    Near the beginning, not long after the Big Bang, the universe was a cold and dark place swirling with invisible gas, mostly hydrogen and helium. Over millions of years, gravity pulled some of this primordial gas into pockets. The pockets eventually became so dense they collapsed under their own weight and ignited, flooding the darkness with ultraviolet radiation. These were the very first stars in the universe, flashing into existence like popcorn kernels unfurling in the hot oil of an empty pan.

    Everything flowed from this cosmic dawn. The first stars illuminated the universe, collapsed into the black holes that keep galaxies together, and produced the heavy elements that would make planets and moons and the human beings that evolved to gaze upon it all.

    This epoch in our cosmic history has long fascinated

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