News in Brief Astronomy

Mystery of missing lithium extends beyond Milky Way

Nearby galaxy confirms conundrum is not limited to our neighborhood

Star cluster Messier 54

ELEMENT ENIGMA  Star cluster Messier 54, seen in an image from the Very Large Telescope, is low in lithium, just like stars in the Milky Way.

ESO

By Christopher Crockett

- More than 2 years ago

Stars in the Milky Way appear to be missing some of the element lithium, and new observations of a distant star cluster confirm that the problem isn’t unique to our galaxy.