MEGATRON Simulations Link First Stars to Chemical Fingerprints in the Milky Way

An international team using the MEGATRON project has produced the most detailed simulations of the early Universe, tracking the formation of the first Population III stars, their radiation and supernovae. Published in four papers in the Open Journal of Astrophysics, the results connect JWST observations of ancient galaxies with the chemical makeup of the oldest stars in the Milky Way.

• First stars formed 100–400 million years after the Big Bang
• The MEGATRON project runs from 2023 to 2030
• Simulations show simpler models underestimated stellar radiation's effect on intergalactic gas
• The project was awarded 40 million processor hours on UK supercomputers