Big Bang theory wrong? Star older than Universe discovered - threat of ‘scientific crisis’

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The Universe is thought to have popped into existence some 13.8 billion years ago when an infinitesimal point expanded billions of lightyears across in just a fraction of a second. The Big Bang theory has stood for the best part of 100 years after Belgian physicist Georges Lemaître first proposed in 1927 the expansion of the Universe could be traced back to a single point. However, the well-accepted model is now under the microscope after a team of researchers found a star which appears to be older than the cosmos.

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A star know as “Methuselah star”, or scientifically called HD 140283, is situated about 200 million lightyears away and has stumped experts.

Analysis of the star showed that it contained very little iron content, which would suggest that it formed during a period when the iron element was not abundant in the Universe.
This in turn led to the discovery the star is 14.5 billion years old, some 0.7 billion years older than the Universe.
Experts met at a conference in California in July in an attempt to solve the mystery, but so far questions have just led to more questions – and it could lead to a “scientific revolution”.

British physicist Robert Matthews wrote for UAE-based media outlet The National: “It’s a riddle of cosmic proportions: How can the universe contain stars older than itself?

“That’s the conundrum now facing astronomers trying to establish the age of the universe — and its resolution could spark a scientific revolution.
“Astronomers now know it contains very little iron — which means it must have been formed before this element became common in the universe.
“And that implies HD 140283 must be almost as old as the universe itself.”

Dr Matthews offered up a few logical explanations for this glaring discrepancy.
The first is that the assumed age of the Universe is incorrect.
The Big Bang was traced back to its starting point when scientists measured the rate of expansion of the Universe.

By discovering how fast the cosmos was expanding, scientists were able to essentially apply their equation in reverse to trace everything back to the beginning.

With scientific tools now more advanced and accurate, it could be time to measure the expansion yet again to deduce a better time frame.
Another possible explanation for the discrepancy could be to do with the dark energy – the mysterious substance which acts as a counter to gravity.
Dr Matthews continued: “Days before last month’s meeting, the journal Nature Astronomy published an estimate of the cosmic-expansion rate based on analysis of gravitational waves detected from such an event in 2017.

Unfortunately, it’s still too rough and ready to resolve the paradox of the Methuselah star or the mystery of the two cosmic ages.

“Astronomers already think this so-called Dark Energy played a critical role in the Big Bang – although they still have no idea where it came from.?
"The time may have come to think the unthinkable.” 

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