Researchers at Uppsala University have revised their estimate of the Sun’s silver content, concluding that it contains 55% more silver than earlier calculations indicated, according to ScienceDaily.
The Sun is made mostly of hydrogen and helium, while heavier elements such as silver make up only a small fraction of its mass. Even so, scientists use those heavier elements to learn more about the formation and chemical history of the universe.
To arrive at the new estimate, the team analyzed sunlight using spectroscopy and applied a more advanced model of the Sun’s outer atmosphere than earlier studies used. They also included improved atomic physics calculations and non-equilibrium effects, which helped them interpret the spectral lines more accurately.
The updated result helps address a mismatch that had existed between previous solar silver measurements and the amount found in chemically primitive meteorites. According to the researchers, the new estimate brings the Sun’s silver abundance into closer agreement with those ancient space rocks, which formed from the same cloud of gas and dust about 4.6 billion years ago.
The researchers plan to use the same method to study other stars and better understand where silver and other heavy elements are made and how they spread through the Milky Way over time.
