The stars that should not exist

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This project aims to explain the origin of stars with a chemical composition that is so peculiar that they cannot be explained by any theory of how stars evolve or how elements are created. Their very existence represents fundamental problems in astrophysics. This project proposes a novel method to distinguish peculiarity of up to 20 million stars, mostly observed from Australia. Expected outcomes include new theories to explain two of the most puzzling kinds of peculiar stars, discoveries of new kinds of anomalous stars, and discoveries of ancient or metal-free stars that should not exist. The project is expected to generate social benefit, as well as long-term economic benefits by inspiring and training the next generation of data analysts, programmers, engineers, teachers, and scientists. It may also generate economic benefits from a generalised method for outlier detection in high-dimensional datasets.