The study, which used data from the Gaia spacecraft, revealed that these ancient stars are located within the thin disk of the Milky Way—a region that was thought to have formed around 8 to 10 billion years ago.

Converting visual data into auditory data makes it more accessible to people with visual impairments. In addition, this approach can reveal details in the data, like patterns and weaker signals, that might otherwise be overlooked.

These elements were made by the rapid neutron capture process. During this process, an element gets additional neutrons that then “decay” into protons, which changes the atom into a new element.