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NASA telescope spots farthest star ever seen

By Abigail Adcox
Published March 30, 2022 6:45pm ET
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NASA telescope spots farthest star ever seen
This detailed view highlights the star Earendel's position along a ripple in space-time (dotted line) that magnifies it and makes it possible for the star to be detected over such a great distance—nearly 13 billion light-years. Also indicated is a cluster of stars that is mirrored on either side of the line of magnification. The distortion and magnification are created by the mass of a huge galaxy cluster located in between Hubble and Earendel. The mass of the galaxy cluster is so great that it warps the fabric of space, and looking through that space is like looking through a magnifying glass—along the edge of the glass or lens, the appearance of things on the other side are warped as well as magnified. | NASA, ESA, Brian Welch (JHU), Dan Coe (STScI); Image processing: NASA, ESA, Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Hubble Space Telescope has detected the most distant star ever seen.

The star, named Earendel, meaning “morning star,” lies 12.9 billion light-years from Earth and is estimated to be at least 50 times the mass of the sun and millions of times brighter, NASA announced Wednesday.

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NASA Space