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NASA Webb Telescope
@nasawebb

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The light of Earendel, our most beloved star ⭐ Discovered by @NASAHubble, Earendel (see second image) is the farthest star ever detected. It existed in the first billion years after the big bang! The Webb Telescope now shows it to be a massive B-type star, more than twice as hot as our Sun and about a million times more luminous. Earendel is only detectable thanks to a galaxy cluster between the star and us. The cluster’s gravity bends light, magnifying what is behind it—in the case of Earendel, by a factor of at least 4000. Based on the colors of the light of Earendel, astronomers think it may have a cooler companion star. Webb is also able to see other details in Earendel’s host galaxy, the Sunrise Arc, the most highly magnified galaxy yet detected in the universe’s first billion years. It features both young star-forming regions and older, established star clusters as small as 10 light-years across. Because Webb is so sensitive, it has spotted other very distant stars, though not quite so distant as Earendel. Astronomers have cautious hope that the very first generation of stars in the universe may yet be detectable. More at our link in bio! Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Dan Coe (STScI/AURA for ESA, JHU), Brian Welch (NASA-GSFC, UMD), with image processing by Zolt G. Levay Image Descriptions: 1. A black background is scattered with hundreds of small galaxies of different shapes and colors. Some galaxies are distorted. Just a bit above the center, there is a bright source of light, a star with 8 bright diffraction spikes extending out from it. Below the star are several noticeably fuzzy white galaxies that resemble cotton balls. These are part of a galaxy cluster. To the lower right of the star is a long, red, thin line stretching from one o’clock to 7 o’clock, outlined in a white inset box. This is the Sunrise Arc galaxy. 2. A close-up of the box highlighting the Sunrise Arc. Several bright dots, some thicker than others, are along the long red line, with one labeled as Earendel. Other galaxies (blobs, dots and disks in white or red) fill the background. #NASA #SunriseArc #Galaxy #Earendel #LordOfTheRings #LOTR #JWST #JamesWebbSpaceTelescope #Stars #Space