Star light, star not-so-bright, first star I see two-thirds-of-the-way-across-the-universe tonight? Scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope have spotted the farthest known star, which is located approximately 9 billion light years away from Earth, Science News reports. Previously, the farthest observed star was a mere 55 million light years away.
Patrick Kelly of the University of California, Berkeley, stumbled upon the star when he was observing a galaxy cluster:
In April and May 2016, Kelly and his team saw a mysteriously fluctuating point of light in the galaxy cluster's vicinity.Follow-up images and analyses, posted June 30 at arXiv.org, showed that light is probably from a single bright blue star that coincidentally was behind the galaxy cluster, aligned along Hubble's line of sight. The star is visible because the galaxy cluster's gravity bent spacetime around the cluster, making it act like a cosmic magnifying glass. [Science News]
With a little more calculation, the researchers realized the light from the star had to zip through a whole 65 percent of the entire universe before it could be seen by eyeballs on Earth, a journey that takes about nine billion years — more than half the age of the universe itself, which is estimated to be 13.8 billion years old, Science News adds. Some additional perspective from Syfy Wire: Nine billion light years is more than a million times farther than any star you can possibly see with your naked eye.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
August 24 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday's political cartoons include Putin at Donald Trump's circus, gallons of whitewash, and a foldable cartoon
-
5 Post Office-approved cartoons about mail-in votingCartoons Artists take on reverse logic, Putin's election advice, and more
-
The battle of the weight-loss drugsTalking Point Can Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly regain their former stock market glory? A lot is riding on next year's pills
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
