The most distant star seen has been observed by astronomers, who say the discovery could unlock secrets of a still-unknown era of the universe.
The light from the star has taken about 12.9 billion years to reach Earth, much more than the nine billion light years of the farthest “supergiant” previously observed.
Scientists said they were surprised by the distance of the star, which they have named “Earendel”, meaning morning star in Old English.
“This might be the earliest star we will ever see since the Big Bang and it was so surprising that it is so much younger than the previous entry of nine billion years, at first I didn’t believe it," said Dr Guillaume Mahler, from Durham University’s Department of Physics and Centre of Extragalactic Astronomy.
“The discovery of Earendel is fantastic and there will be many other aspects of the star we will be able to study, which could keep us busy for years to come.”
The findings of the international team of researchers were published in the journal Nature on Wednesday.
They made the discovery with Nasa’s Hubble Space Telescope, using data collected during its re-ionisation lensing cluster survey (Relics) programme.
The researchers said that if Earendel is a single star, it would be at least 50 times the mass of the sun and millions of times as bright, making it one of the most massive known.
But even such brilliant stars would be impossible to make out individually with telescopes without natural magnification provided through an effect called “gravitational lensing”.
It occurs when massive galaxy clusters warp the fabric of space, greatly amplifying the light from distant objects behind it.
In this case, a rare cosmic alignment with a huge galaxy cluster, sitting between Earth and Earendel, meant the star’s brightness was magnified by a factor of thousands, allowing astronomers to see it.
The lensing phenomenon, predicted by Albert Einstein, is the result of a massive object bending space-time around it and forcing light beams to take a curved path.
“Gravitational lensing is like observing galaxies under the microscope and with technology such as the Hubble telescope, you start to see what is inside,” Dr Mahler said.
PhD student and lead author Brian Welch, from Johns Hopkins University, said: “We almost didn’t believe it at first, it was so much farther than the previous most distant star.
“Normally at these distances, entire galaxies look like small smudges. This galaxy has been magnified and distorted by gravitational lensing into a long crescent that we named the ‘Sunrise Arc’.
“Studying Earendel will be a window into an era of the universe that we are unfamiliar with, but that led to everything we know.
“It’s like we’ve been reading a really interesting book but we started with the second chapter, and now we will have a chance to see how it all got started.”
Scientists expect Earendel will remain magnified for years and it will be further studied using Nasa’s Webb Space Telescope, which has a high sensitivity to infrared light.
That makes the telescope suitable for observing the star’s light, which is stretched to longer infrared wavelengths because of the universe’s expansion.
“With Webb we expect to confirm Earendel is indeed a star, as well as measure its brightness and temperature," said co-author Dan Coe, from the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore.
“We also expect to find the Sunrise Arc is lacking in heavy elements that form in subsequent generations of stars. This would suggest Earendel is a rare massive metal-poor star.”
Selma de Mink, scientific director of the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics and co-author of the paper, said: “It is kind of like finding an old photograph of your great-grandparents, because these stars are basically our stellar ancestors.
"We are, after all, made out of the elements that they once produced. Yet we have so many unanswered questions.
“Most exciting for me is that some of the black holes recently detected by gravitational waves are remnants of stars that lived back then.
"I hope that Earendel and future similar discoveries will help us understand a little more about the origin of these black holes.”
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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ARSENAL
BARCELONA
- La Liga - 2013
- Copa del Rey - 2012
- Fifa Club World Cup - 2011
CHELSEA
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- FA Cup - 2018
- League Cup - 2015
SPAIN
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
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Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
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Defining head lice
Pediculus humanus capitis are tiny wingless insects that feed on blood from the human scalp. The adult head louse is up to 3mm long, has six legs, and is tan to greyish-white in colour. The female lives up to four weeks and, once mature, can lay up to 10 eggs per day. These tiny nits firmly attach to the base of the hair shaft, get incubated by body heat and hatch in eight days or so.
Identifying lice
Lice can be identified by itching or a tickling sensation of something moving within the hair. One can confirm that a person has lice by looking closely through the hair and scalp for nits, nymphs or lice. Head lice are most frequently located behind the ears and near the neckline.
Treating lice at home
Head lice must be treated as soon as they are spotted. Start by checking everyone in the family for them, then follow these steps. Remove and wash all clothing and bedding with hot water. Apply medicine according to the label instructions. If some live lice are still found eight to 12 hours after treatment, but are moving more slowly than before, do not re-treat. Comb dead and remaining live lice out of the hair using a fine-toothed comb.
After the initial treatment, check for, comb and remove nits and lice from hair every two to three days. Soak combs and brushes in hot water for 10 minutes.Vacuum the floor and furniture, particularly where the infested person sat or lay.
Courtesy Dr Vishal Rajmal Mehta, specialist paediatrics, RAK Hospital
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Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
