Found: Most pristine star in the universe - Carnegie Science

The Value of Long-Term Data at Headwater Sites While the value of monitoring is sometimes underrecognized, according to Shanley, long-term datasets gain value each year because they track environmental changes and unexpected disturbances. “The long-term streamflow, water quality, snow, and precipitation datasets provide immense value to those who wish to better understand environmental changes. Monitoring programs allow you to study and see how things react,” USGS hydrologist Serena Matt said. “They not only inform policy, but they also reveal when policy changes have succeeded.” For instance, without 30-year long-term precipitation and chemistry data sets, scientists would not have measured the distinct drop of sulfate in rainwater in the SRRW as a result of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. The isolated location of Sleepers, far from any acid rain source, makes it an ideal ecosystem for study. Despite being a pristine, forested area, in the early 1990s Sleepers had high levels of sulfate in its rainwater, a characteristic of acid rain formed from air pollution miles away.

Only about 500 million years after the Big Bang, when the universe was roughly 3% of its current age, some of the first stars and galaxies had already begun to shine. Astronomers have generally expected that much of the gas around these young galaxies would still have been nearly pristine, consisting mostly of hydrogen and helium, the basic elements that dominated the newborn cosmos. New evidence suggests that picture may be incomplete. A study led by astronomers at the University of Arizona and published in Nature Astronomy indicates that early galaxies were already sending heavier elements such as carbon and oxygen into surrounding space much sooner than expected.

WATCH: If you're in the Prairies, you may want to look up in the sky tonight, as an Orionid meteor shower could be visible. Our Payton Zillich spoke with Saskatoon astrophotographer Tim Yawarski to find out the best way to see the shower. If you look up in the sky Wednesday or Thursday evening, you may just see something amazing. An Orionids meteor shower is headed Saskatchewan’s way. It’s one of approximately 12 meteor showers we see annually, according to Living Sky Guy and astrophotographer, Tim Yaworski.