Scientists have found the purest, most pristine object in the Universe, and it shouldn't even exist

Astronomers have discovered a primeval star that is the most pristine ever found.

Thought to be a relic from the Universe’s earliest days, it has far fewer heavier elements like carbon, oxygen and iron than stars seen today. 

Named SDSS J0715-7334, the star is mostly composed of hydrogen and helium, closely resembling the first-ever stars (population III stars) that formed after the Big Bang.

These were thought to have been massive, hot and short-lived, and responsible for forging heavier elements through nuclear fusion.

As the research team, led by Alexander Ji from the University of Chicago, state in the new study: "This star has the most pristine composition of any object known in the Universe.

"SDSS J0715-7334 is over 10 times more metal-poor than the most metal-poor high-redshift galaxies found by the James Webb Space Telescope.”"

Their analysis shows that the star contains just 0.8 parts per million of heavy elements, which makes it around 20,000 times purer than the Sun.

This also makes it a candidate for one of the earliest stars ever found and calls into question assumptions that these kind of stars had long since exploded.

"The first stars formed out of pristine gas, causing them to be so massive that none are expected to have survived until today," the authors explain.

Previous theories suggested that any surviving pristine stars would contain a comparatively high level of carbon, enough to cool the stars and allow them to burn for longer.

\However, this star has little carbon, making it an even more intriguing find.