Although the new James Webb Space Telescope has made headlines with its recent images of deep space, its predecessor, the venerable Hubble Space Telescope, launched in 1990, is still operational and prompting new discoveries, for example, the March observation of Earendel, the farthest known star in the universe.
Few stars have their own names. In this case, the name Earendel derives from Old English words meaning “morning star” or “rising light.” Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien will remember that one of the characters in The Silmarillion goes by a very similar name – Eärendil –, but this is pure coincidence.
The surprising thing about Earendel is its remoteness. The light that the Hubble telescope captured was emitted when the universe was less than a billion years old. In other words, the light had been traveling through space for almost 13 billion years before it was picked up by the Hubble.
Earendel can only be seen under very specific circumstances, which was why it was one of the main targets of the James Webb, which was launched on December 25, 2021. Fortunately, given the time of year, the telescope can see the southern Cetus constellation which contains Earendel. With its powerful resolution and infrared cameras, James Webb took a new, even more detailed image of the star and the arc of light surrounding it on July 30. This arc of light, which makes the star appear brighter, has also been given a name: the Sunrise Arc.
Cosmic magnifying glass
In December, the James Webb will once again point its mirrors at Earendel in order to carry out a spectral analysis to confirm or rule out the presence of heavy elements. So far, based solely on the Hubble and James Webb images, more than 4,700 scientific articles have been published about the star. It is the furthest individual object that we can currently distinguish in the cosmos – although there are already reports of three or four more, very old stars that can be identified thanks to gravitational lensing.
An image taken by Hubble, with Earendel‘s galaxy is indicated by an arrow.NASA
With stars that are so remote, astronomers don’t talk about distance but rather “redshift,” a measure of how much their light has been “dilated” as a result of the expansion of the universe. In the case of Earendel, that index is 6.2, meaning it is 28 billion light-years from Earth. The star that held the previous record – nicknamed Icarus, in the constellation of Leo – is not half that figure.
It seems like a paradox: how is it possible to see an object at that distance when the universe has only existed for around 13.8 billion years? The star’s light should not have had time to reach us yet.
The answer to this paradox is that space is not static, but rather expanding at an accelerating rate. When Earendel’s light began its journey, the universe was very young and therefore much smaller than it is now. Since then, space has been expanding and the distance between galaxies has become greater and greater.
What’s also surprising about Earendel is that it is an isolated star, not a galaxy. The oldest galaxies do not appear in the Hubble photos as the pretty spirals we know, but as irregular masses of reddish-hued gas in which no structure can be distinguished. In reality, this color is the result of how the images have been rendered.
Earendel marked with a green star in an image from the Hubble Space Telescope.NASA
Earendel is a huge star – or rather, it was, because it has been losing mass for eons. It may be a legendary Population III star, which were the first to appear after the Big Bang. These stars only contain primordial hydrogen and helium as atoms of other metals did not exist yet. These heavier atoms would form as a result of the nuclear reactions that occur during the evolution of these stars.
It is estimated that Earendel’s mass is between 50 and a hundred times greater than the Sun, and that it hsa a surface temperature of 20,000°C (36,000°F). That would make it extremely bright, with a bluish-white glow. But no matter how bright it is, an isolated star should be invisible from such a distance.
That we can see it is due to an unusual circumstance. Between the star and Earth there is a small group of galaxies whose gravity acts like a lens that both concentrates and distorts the light from more distant objects.
What’s more, Earendel is located precisely in a narrow area of that giant magnifying glass where the effect of the gravitational lens is greatest. Thanks to this effect, the star’s light can be magnified between 1,000 and 40,000 times – enough for it to be detected by the Hubble. That is, after the telescope has spent nine hours looking at the same region of the sky. Photon by photon, the telescope has captured the light from Earendel on its long journey across the universe.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
