Expert: Jayendra Upadhye - 6/14/2006

Question
I would like to know that a hypothetical star like our sun  having formed back when the Universe was very young. Would you expect it to have any planets around it? Why or why not?

Answer
Hi Yuan,
Most stars have planets!
That is part of the process of star formation.
However ..
There is one crucial difference.
When the universe was too young..(i am talking of the first stars)..most of it was all hydrogen.
There was no appreciable amount of heavier elements in the universe until the first supernovas erupted.
And it took a few 100 million years for that to happen.
Stars that formed before that epoch would still have had planets...but all such planets would be balls of hydrogen!

All other matter higher up on the periodic table, that is found around us NOW is either RECYCLED (as the solid matter on earth..it was not produced from the sun but is product of earlier super nova!) stuff or is being even now made  as "new stuff" inside stars.

Hope that suffices.
Jayen