NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Uncovers Farthest Star Ever Detected

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, in collaboration with the Hubble Space Telescope, has identified the most distant star known, named Earendel, located in the Sunrise Arc galaxy.

Earendel, a massive B-type star hotter than our Sun and a million times more luminous was observed thanks to gravitational lensing caused by galaxy cluster WHL0137-08. This effect magnified Earendel by at least 4,000 times, making it the most distant star ever detected, appearing just one billion years after the big bang.

Webb's NIRCam captured other details within the highly magnified Sunrise Arc, revealing young star-forming regions and older star clusters resembling those in our Milky Way billions of years ago. Astronomers are analyzing Webb's data for precise composition and distance measurements of the galaxy.

This breakthrough broadens our understanding of early cosmic objects beyond galaxies and could lead to discovering the universe's first-generation stars. The James Webb Space Telescope, a global collaboration led by NASA, ESA, and the Canadian Space Agency, continues to unveil mysteries in our universe, revolutionizing space science."