A Cosmic Flashback: Meet Earendel, the Ancient Star - 900 million years from the Start of TIme

 

 A Cosmic Flashback: Meet Earendel, the Ancient Star - 900 million years from the Start of TIme

A Cosmic Flashback: Meet Earendel, the Ancient Star

Imagine a diamond in the sky, shining bright with a light that's been traveling through space for 12.8 billion years. That's even before our planet Earth existed! This luminous blue star, nicknamed Earendel (meaning "morning star" or "rising light"), is like a ghost from the past, a reminder of the universe's ancient history.

Earendel's life was short-lived, exploding into bits just a few million years after its birth. But its legacy lives on, thanks to a lucky spotting by the Hubble Space Telescope. The star's light has been traveling through space for so long that we're seeing it as it was just 900 million years after the Big Bang – a time known as the "Cosmic Dawn."

Astronomers used a technique called gravitational lensing to magnify Earendel's light, which was otherwise too faint to detect. It's like using a cosmic magnifying glass to study a tiny, distant object. This technique has also helped scientists spot other distant stars, like Icarus, which formed 9.4 billion years ago.

Studying Earendel is like uncovering a piece of celestial history. Its light has been traveling through space for so long that it's a wonder we can even see it today. As NASA astrophysicist Jane Rigby puts it, "It's such a gift really from the universe."

Earendel: A Star from the Distant Past

• Distance: 12.8 billion light-years away
• Age: Formed 900 million years after the Big Bang
• Nickname: Earendel, meaning "morning star" or "rising light"
• Technique used: Gravitational lensing
• Significance: One of the oldest stars observed, providing insights into the early universe.