What process allows astronomers to determine a star's age by studying its chemical makeup?
Answer
Spectroscopic Analysis to determine the abundance of various elements.
Determining the true age of a star relies significantly on understanding its chemical composition, or metallicity, achieved through spectroscopic analysis. This technique involves breaking down the star’s light into its component wavelengths to precisely measure the relative abundance of different elements present in its atmosphere. Since the oldest stars formed when only primordial elements existed, an extremely low abundance of heavy elements serves as a strong indicator of antiquity, allowing astronomers to use this data, alongside positional information, in age modeling.
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