“I captured the starlight from 12.9 billion light years ago”… Hubble telescope captures ancient starlight

Only 900 million light years after the Big Bang occurred, a distant, ancient star was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center announced on the 31st that a research team led by Dr. Dan Kou of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScl) discovered starlight 12.9 billion light-years ago through the Hubble Space Telescope. The research results were published in the scientific journal ‘Nature’.

The ‘WHL0137-LS’ discovered this time was nicknamed ‘Earendel’, which means ‘morning star’ in Old English. It would take 12.9 billion light years for light from this star to reach Earth. It is about 4 billion light-years farther than Icarus, discovered by Hubble in 2018.

Arendelle is the furthest from the starlight of individual stars captured so far, and is expected to elucidate the formation process of first-generation stars.

Johns Hopkins University astronomer Brian Welch, lead author of the paper, said: “At first I thought this star was a distorted light from another star. I knew,” he explained.

Welch added, “Irendelle formed so long ago that it may have elements different from the stars observed today.”

This star is said to have a mass of at least 50 times that of our Sun and a luminosity that is millions of times brighter than our Sun. This observation is due to Hubble’s ability, but also to the gigantic galaxy cluster ‘WHL0137-08’ located between Arendelle and Earth. The cluster acts like a magnifying glass, magnifying Arendelle in the shape of a long, thin crescent.

Astronomers predict that the cluster’s enlarged illumination of Arendelle will continue for years to come. Hubble observes Arendelle only hazy, but if it is observed with the James Webb Space Telescope, it is expected that the luminosity and temperature, as well as whether the Arendelle is a real star, can be determined, and the type and evolutionary stage of the star. .

Arendelle is a star that was formed before the universe collapsed and filled with heavy elements, so interest in its composition is high. If it is confirmed through subsequent research that it is a star made of pure hydrogen and helium without any metallic elements, it will be the first evidence of a hypothesis that has been presented only in theory.

The James Webb Space Telescope is a joint project of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency together with NASA, and is a next-generation space telescope that is expected to capture light 13.7 billion light-years ago, right after the Big Bang. It was launched on December 25 (local time) from French Guiana on an Ariane 5 rocket. Currently, after arriving at Lagrange 2 (L2), fine alignment for accurate photo capture is in progress. It is expected that the first photos will be sent in May or June of this year.

Welch said, “If you use James Webb, you will be able to capture stars farther away than Arendelle.

Reporter Seo Hee-won, Electronic Newspaper Internet (shw@etnews.com)