A "progenitor star" refers to a star that gave birth to other stars or celestial bodies. It is like a parent star, responsible for creating new stars in its vicinity. Full definition
According to theorists like Volker Bromm of the University of Texas at Austin, the iron - poor, nitrogen - rich second - gen stars come from one specific class of progenitor stars with 10 to 100 times the mass of the sun. (discovermagazine.com)
The implication: Some first - generation or progenitor stars exploded evenly, as expected, but others must have somehow held onto iron during their death throes while allowing lighter metals to spread out into space. (discovermagazine.com)
It starts with two massive progenitor stars at quite wide separations. (seeker.com)