Detailed View: Star Earendel on the Line of Extreme Magnification
This detailed view highlights the star Earendel's position along a ripple in space-time (dotted line) that magnifies it and makes it possible for the star to be detected over such a great distance—nearly 13 billion light-years. Also indicated is a cluster of stars that is mirrored on either side of the line of magnification. The distortion and magnification are created by the mass of a huge galaxy cluster located in between Hubble and Earendel. The mass of the galaxy cluster is so great that it warps the fabric of space, and looking through that space is like looking through a magnifying glass—along the edge of the glass or lens, the appearance of things on the other side are warped as well as magnified.
Credits
Science
NASA, ESA, Brian Welch (JHU), Dan Coe (STScI)
Image Processing
NASA, ESA, Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | Earendel |
| Object Description | Distant star |
| R.A. Position | 01:37:23.23 |
| Dec. Position | -08:27:52.20 |
| Constellation | Cetus |
| Distance | The star is approximately 12.9 billion light-years away. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | This Hubble image was created from HST data from proposals: 14096 () and 15842 (). |
| Instrument | ACS/WFC, WFC3/IR |
| Exposure Dates | 7 June 2016, 17July 2016, 4 November 2019, and 27 November 2019 |
| Filters | F814W, F105W, F110W, F160W |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the ACS/WFC and the WFC3/IR instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample narrow and wide wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F814W Green: F105W Red: F110W + F160W |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
