This is Eärendel, the farthest star ever seen by the James Webb telescope

Head to the stars. On Tuesday, August 8, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope imaged the farthest star ever observed. The star named Eärendil (Editor’s note: “morning starin Old English), is 28 billion light-years from our planet, and was spotted in March 2022 by the Hubble Telescope. The unparalleled resolution of the James Webb Telescope, an instrument worth more than $10 billion, makes it possible to learn more about Earendel.

A star a million times brighter than the Sun

Eärndel is so far away that its light, captured by James Webb, was emitted during the first billion years after the Big Bang. All this while the universe is estimated to be 13.8 billion years old. According to NASA, the star that previously held the record dates from 3 billion years after the birth of the universe.

The infrared cameras of the NASA satellite confirm that Earendel is a type B star: a star with blue and white colors, very bright and hot. In fact, Eärendel is twice as hot as the Sun, according to James Webb’s observations. Eärendel will also be a million times brighter than the Sun.

NASA astronomers also think they’ve identified warmer colors near Earendel. This could mean that Eärendel is not alone, but rather part of a binary star: two stars orbiting a common center of gravity.

James Webb’s infrared cameras will also help learn more about Earendel’s galaxy, Sunrise Arc. According to NASA, several sets of data analyzes should allow astronomers to learn the exact size and composition of the galaxy. There is no doubt that the James Webb Telescope pushes astronomy into another dimension.