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WHL0137-LS

Coordinates: Sky map 01h 37m 23.232s, −08° 27′ 52.20″
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"Earendel (star)" redirects here. For the Morning Star, see Morning Star (disambiguation). For the Tolkien star, see Star of Earendil.

WHL0137-LS (Earendel)

Image of the star by the Hubble Space Telescope on 30 March 2022
Observation data
Epoch J2000      Equinox J2000
Constellation Cetus
Right ascension 01h 37m 23.232s
Declination –8° 27′ 52.20″
Astrometry
DistanceRedshift of 6.2±0.1[1] ly
Characteristics
Apparent magnitude (F435W) 27.2
Details[1]
Mass50–100 M☉
Temperature>20,000 K

WHL0137-LS, also known as Earendel ("Morning Star" in Old English), is the most distant known single star.[2]

Observation

Earendel's discovery by the Hubble Space Telescope was reported on 30 March 2022.[1][3] The star is found due to gravitational lensing of a galaxy cluster in front, amplifying the light from the star significantly. Computer simulations of the lensing effect suggest that Earendel's brightness was magnified between one- and forty-thousand times.[4] This discovery also demonstrate a possible combination of lensing effects: a main gravitational lensing from galaxy clusters and further gravitational microlensing caused by heavy objects inside.[5][6]

The star was nicknamed Earendel by the discoverers, derived from Old English name for "Morning Star" or "Rising Light".[1][7] Eärendil is also the name of a half-elven character in J.R.R. Tolkien's book The Silmarillion who travelled through the sky with a radiant jewel that appeared as bright as a star to the inhabitants of Tolkien's Middle-earth; NASA astronomer Michelle Thaller confirmed that the reference to Tolkien was intentional.[8]

The James Webb Space Telescope will then follow-up the star's observations. The telescope's higher sensitivity will analyze the Earendel's stellar spectra and determine for certain whether it was actually a single star.[9][10] The spectra analysis would reveal the presence of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, if any.[11]

Physical properties

The light detected from Earendel was emitted 900 million years after the Big Bang. The star is measured to have a 6.2±0.1 redshift, meaning the light from Earendel reached Earth 12.9 billion years later.[1][12][4] However, due to the expansion of the universe, the star is now 28 billion light-years away.[9]

Earendel was likely to have between 50–100 solar masses, considerably more than average.[13] Due to its large mass, the star likely exploded as a supernova just a few million years after emerging.[13][14] It had an effective surface temperature of around 20,000 K (19,700 °C; 35,500 °F).[1] Earendel was likely a Population III star, meaning it would have been consisted almost entirely of hydrogen and helium.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Welch, Brian; et al. (21 January 2022). "A Highly Magnified Star at Redshift 6.2". Nature. 603 (7903): 1–50. doi:10.1038/s41586-022-04449-y. PMID 35354998. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  2. ^ a b Gianopoulos, Andrea (30 March 2022). "Record Broken: Hubble Spots Farthest Star Ever Seen". NASA. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Record Broken: Hubble Spots Farthest Star Ever Seen". Space Telescope Science Institute. NASA. 30 March 2022. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  4. ^ a b Timmer, John (30 March 2022). "Hubble picks up the most distant star yet observed". Nature. Ars Technica. doi:10.1038/s41586-022-04449-y. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  5. ^ Jenkins, Ann; Villard, Ray; Kelly, Patrick (2 April 2018). Hille, Karl (ed.). "Hubble Uncovers the Farthest Star Ever Seen". NASA. Archived from the original on 3 April 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  6. ^ Di Stefano, Rosanne (2 April 2018). "Cosmic flashing lights". Nature Astronomy. Nature. pp. 280–281. doi:10.1038/s41550-018-0416-1. Archived from the original on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  7. ^ Parks, Jake (30 March 2022). "Hubble spots the farthest star ever seen". Astronomy. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  8. ^ Gohd, Chelsea (31 March 2022). "Meet Earendel: Hubble telescope's distant star discovery gets a Tolkien-inspired name". Space.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  9. ^ a b Kabir, Radifah (31 March 2022). "Hubble Detects Earendel, The Farthest Star Ever Seen. It's 28 Billion Light Years Away". ABP Live. ABP News. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  10. ^ Starr, Michelle (30 March 2022). "The Most Distant Single Star Was Just Detected, as Ancient as The Cosmic Dawn". ScienceAlert. Nature. doi:10.1038/s41586-022-04449-y. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  11. ^ Rauchhaupt, Ulf von (31 March 2022). "Tiefe Astronomie: Der früheste Stern". FAZ.NET (in German). Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  12. ^ Letzter, Rafi (30 March 2022). "Meet Earendel, the most distant star ever detected". The Verge. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  13. ^ a b Konitzer, Franziska (30 March 2022). "Entferntester Stern dank 1000-facher Vergrößerung entdeckt" [Scientific American]. Spektrum der Wissenschaft (in German). Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  14. ^ Dunn, Marcia (30 March 2022). "This is Earendel, the most distant star ever seen by humans". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
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