The James Webb Space Telescope took a look at the most distant star known in the universe, announced only a few months ago by scientists using Webb’s predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope.
star named EarendelHe was discovered thanks to a character in JRR Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” prequel “Silmarillion”. gravitational lensing inside Hubble space telescope deep field view. Star that receives 12.9 billion light light years to reach Soilit is so pale that it can be quite difficult to find it in the new model. James Webb Space Telescope Image posted on Twitter Tuesday, August 2nd, by a group of astronomers using the account Cosmic Spring JWST (opens in new tab).
The original Hubble image provides some guidance on where to look from the zoomed cutout. Essentially, the Earendel is the small whitish spot at the bottom of a distant cluster. galaxies. By comparing the Hubble image with the image taken by Webb, you can find the elusive Earendel.
Gallery: First photos of the James Webb Space Telescope
We are excited to share the first JWST image of Earendel, the most distant star known in our universe, lensed and magnified by a massive galaxy cluster. It was observed by the JWST program 2282 on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/YoZZKRsdzfAugust 2, 2022
“We are excited to share the first JWST image of Earendel, the most distant star known in our universe, lensed and magnified by a massive galaxy cluster,” Cosmic Spring astronomers tweeted. 30 July).
The tweet refers to gravitational lensing, nature’s aid to astronomers. The impact is caused by extremely massive objects such as galaxy clusters or supermassive objects. black holes, bend the light from the objects behind them. When light passes by such an object, it behaves as if it were passing through the lens of a telescope, and distorted by magnification. So using gravitational lensing expands the reach of telescopes like Hubble and Webb, allowing them to see more and in greater detail.
Webb was designed to see the first galaxies appearing in younger generations. Universe in the first hundreds of millions of years following the dark ages Big Bang. But astronomers thought it would not be possible to see individuals. seniors from these first generation suns formed at that time. But gravitational lensing can actually enable them to see in detail inside these early star groups.
“The JWST was designed to study the first stars. Until recently, we assumed this meant stellar populations in the early galaxies,” astronomers from the Space Telescope Science Institute in Maryland, which operates Webb and Hubble, wrote recently. paper (opens in new tab) discussing the technique. “But in the last three years, three separate stars with powerful lenses have been discovered. This offers new hope for directly observing individual stars at cosmological distances with JWST.”
Earendel, also known by the proper name WHL0137-LS, is located in the constellation. Cetusbut don’t expect to see it if you look at the night sky – even gravitational lensing isn’t that strong.
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