use Hubble Space Telescope NASA has revealed a massive star dating back 12.9 billion years, making it the oldest ever seen by astronomers.
A team from the Max Planck Institute in Germany was able to observe the very faint light from the star, called Erendel, due to the presence of a group of galaxies between it and the Earth, creating a powerful natural magnifying glass for the objects sitting behind.
The team explained that the star is believed to be millions of times brighter than the Sun, making it one of the first stars and one of the brightest ever discovered.
According to the British newspaper, the Daily Mail, very little is currently known about Earendel, but the team hopes to use the James Webb Space Telescope to learn more, including its composition, fifty times larger than the sun, whose light has just reached Earth, despite the first burning since 12.9 billion years.
‘It’s like finding an old picture of your great-grandparents,’ said co-author Dr Selma de Mink from the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Germany.
