--- title: "This Star Appears to Be Older Than the Universe" description: "A new All About Space story focuses on HD 140283, an ancient star that research indicates is older than the universe itself." date: "2019-10-17" modified: "2019-10-17" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/star-older-than-universe" categories: - "Physics" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "astrophysics" - "space" - "stars" - "the digest" --- # This Star Appears to Be Older Than the Universe ![Space.com delves into the the history of research into the star, and finds that though scientists have made some progress, the mystery remains unexplained.]() *\Image: Gerd Altmann via Pixabay/Tag Hartman-Simkins\* ## Old Boy A [fascinating new story]() in the magazine *All About Space* looks at HD 140283, a star that's been annoying astrophysicists for nearly two decades — because, according to multiple observations, it appears to be older than the universe itself. That's obviously impossible. But *All About Space* delves into the history of research into the star and finds that**,** though scientists have made some progress toward explaining the bizarre age discrepancy, the mystery remains essentially unexplained. ## Methuselah Astronomers tried to date HD 140283 back in the year 2000, according to *All About Space*'s story, using the European Space Agency's Hipparcos satellite. The data suggested that the star was around 16 billion years old, which posed a major problem: the universe itself, according to scientists' best estimates, has [only been around]() for about 13.8 billion years — and stars only started to form hundreds of millions of years *after* the Big Bang. In a nod to the apparent discrepancy, they gave the star a jokey nickname: Methuselah, a reference to the oldest character in the Bible. ## Next Steps Subsequent measurements, catalogued by *All About Space,* have de-aged Methuselah to about 14.27 billion years — but that still makes the star substantially older than the universe. Adding to the drama, [credible new research]() has recently suggested that the universe may be as young as 11.4 billion years, expanding the disparity further. "The most likely explanations for the paradox are some overlooked observational effect and/or something big missing from our understanding of the dynamics of the cosmic expansion," physicist Robert Matthews, at Aston University, told *All About Space*. **READ MORE:** [How Can a Star Be Older Than the Universe?]() \[*All About Space*\] **More on stars:** [*Astronomers Just Watched a Black Hole Shred a Star*]() ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()