"Unearthing the Ghostly Discovery: A Remarkably Metal-Poor Star Revealed"

Astronomers have discovered an extremely metal-poor star, SPLUS J1424−2542, using the Gemini High-resolution Optical SpecTrograph (GHOST). Located 25,500 light years away, the star has a mass of 0.84 solar masses and is estimated to be 10 billion years old. GHOST observations confirmed the star's metallicity at approximately -3.39, indicating its extremely metal-poor nature. The star's chemical study suggests it was formed from a gas cloud polluted by at least two progenitor populations, including a metal-free star supernova explosion and the aftermath of a binary neutron star merger. The star belongs to the in-situ Galactic halo population.