"HIP 102152": Scientists discover Sun's twin

September 1, 2013

An 8.2-billion-year-old twin of the Sun has been discovered by the astronomers. Astronomers in Brazil used ESO’s Very Large Telescope to locate the star HIP 102152 located 250 light-years away. It is very similar to the Sun- except that it is nearly four billion years older.

How would the discovery of Sun’s twin help?

Studying the ancient star allows researchers to predict what may happen to our own Sun when it reaches that age. The discovery has already helped scientists to understand why some stars have high lithium content like the Sun and others have a low content of it. It has been found now that there is a strong link between the age of the star and its lithium content with scientists claiming that youger and mid-aged stars have higher lithium whereas stars somehow destroy their lithium as they age.

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