Hubble Spies A Star Far, Far Away

The Hubble Space Telescope has imaged the most distant star in its history. The star is called Earendel, and it’s 28 billion light-years away. It’s the farthest detection of a star Hubble has ever made.

The star was born when the universe was only 900 million years old. Researchers say it has taken light from the star 12.9 billion years to reach us. Scientists hope its observation can help them learn more about the early universe.

“As we peer into the cosmos, we also look back in time, so these extreme high-resolution observations allow us to understand the building blocks of some of the very first galaxies,” said study co-author Victoria Strait.

Researchers believe the star is 50 to 500 times more massive than the sun. They also think it is millions of times brighter than the sun.