Measurable amounts of Be could have been synthesised primordially if the Universe were non-homogeneous or in the presence of late decaying relic particles. We investigate the Be abundance in the extremely metal-poor star 2MASS J1808-5104 ([Fe/H]=-3.84) with the aim of constraining inhomogeneities or the presence of late decaying particles. High resolution, high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) UV spectra were acquired at ESO with the Kueyen 8.2m telescope and the UVES spectrograph. Abundances were derived using several model atmospheres and spectral synthesis code. We measured log(Be/H)=-14.3 from a spectrum synthesis of the region of the Be line. Using a conservative approach, however we adopted an upper limit two times higher, i.e. log(Be/H)<-14.0. We measured the O abundance from UV-OH lines and find [O/H]=-3.46 after a 3D correction. Our observation reinforces the existing upper limit on primordial Be. There is no observational indication for a primordial production of 9Be. This places strong constraints on the properties of putative relic particles. This result also supports the hypothesis of a homogeneous Universe, at the time of nucleosynthesis. Surprisingly, our upper limit of the Be abundance is well below the Be measurements in stars of similar [O/H]. This may be evidence that the Be-O relation breaks down in the early Galaxy, perhaps due to the escape of spallation products from the gas clouds in which stars such as 2MASS J1808-5104 have formed.

Cone search capability for table J/A+A/624/A44/oxy (*3D-corrected oxygen abundances)