Hubble telescope spots farthest star ever seen

NASA's Hubble telescope has reached a new record by detecting light from a star that existed within the first billion years after the universe’s birth in the big bang. It is believed to be the most distant star ever observed till now, thereby breaking the record of the giant blue star known as “Icarus”. Its light took a billion years to reach the Earth.

The discovery, announced on March 30th, 2022, in the “Nature” Magazine, is a significantadvance, as the light of the newly discovered star nicknamed ” Earendel” took 12.9 billion light years to reach the Earth . At that time, the Universe was only at 7% of its present age.

The star will be observed using NASA's James Webb Telescope. Its observations focus on the near and mid-infrared and its use is justified by the expansion of the Universe.

The Hubble Telescope is the fruit of a project developed by NASA and the European Space Agency. It has contributed to several astrophysical research projects. The diameter of its mirror measures 240 cm and its low earth orbit is 610 km high.