Credit: NASA, ESA, B. Welch (JHU) and D. Coe (STScI)

The star nicknamed Earendel (indicated with arrow) is positioned along a ripple in spacetime that gives it extreme magnification, allowing it to emerge into view from its host galaxy, which appears as a red smear across the sky. The whole scene is viewed through the distorted lens created by a massive galaxy cluster in the intervening space, which allows the galaxy’s features to be seen, but also warps their appearance—an effect astronomers call gravitational lensing. The red dots on either side of Earendel are one star cluster that is mirrored on either side of the ripple, a result of the gravitational lensing distortion. The entire galaxy, called the Sunrise Arc, appears three times, and knots along its length are more mirrored star clusters. Earendel’s unique position right along the line of most extreme magnification allows it to be detected, even though it is not a cluster.

Provider: Space Telescope Science Institute

Image Source: https://hubblesite.org/contents/news-releases/2022/news-2022-003

Curator: STScI, Baltimore, MD, USA

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