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Concept
Metallicity
Summary
In astronomy, metallicity is the abundance of elements present in an object that are heavier than hydrogen and helium. Most of the normal currently detectable (i.e. non-dark) matter in the universe is either hydrogen or helium, and astronomers use the word "metals" as a convenient short term for "all elements except hydrogen and helium". This word-use is distinct from the conventional chemical or physical definition of a metal as an electrically conducting solid. Stars and nebulae with relatively high abundances of heavier elements are called "metal-rich" in astrophysical terms, even though many of those elements are nonmetals in chemistry.
Stellar nucleosynthesis and Big Bang nucleosynthesis
The presence of heavier elements results from stellar nucleosynthesis, where the majority of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium in the Universe (metals, hereafter) are formed in the cores of stars as they evolve. Over time, stellar winds and supernovae deposit the metals into the surrounding environment, enriching the interstellar medium and providing recycling materials for the birth of new stars. It follows that older generations of stars, which formed in the metal-poor early Universe, generally have lower metallicities than those of younger generations, which formed in a more metal-rich Universe.
Observed changes in the chemical abundances of different types of stars, based on the spectral peculiarities that were later attributed to metallicity, led astronomer Walter Baade in 1944 to propose the existence of two different populations of stars.
These became commonly known as (metal-rich) and (metal-poor) stars. A third, earliest stellar population was hypothesized in 1978, known as stars. These "extremely metal-poor" (XMP) stars are theorized to have been the "first-born" stars created in the Universe.
Astronomers use several different methods to describe and approximate metal abundances, depending on the available tools and the object of interest.
Official source
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