Hubble image archive
Compass Image for Icarus (MACS J1149_2223 Lensed Star 1)
This graphic shows the location, orientation, and filters used to image MACS J1149+2223 Lensed Star 1, the farthest individual star ever seen. Called Icarus, this star is only visible because it is being magnified by the gravity of a massive galaxy cluster, located about 5 billio...
- Date
- Jan 1, 2018
- Mission
- Hubble Space Telescope
- Archive ID
- hubblesite-images-2018-13-4128-image
This graphic shows the location, orientation, and filters used to image MACS J1149+2223 Lensed Star 1, the farthest individual star ever seen. Called Icarus, this star is only visible because it is being magnified by the gravity of a massive galaxy cluster, located about 5 billion light-years from Earth. This cluster, called MACS J1149+2223 (shown at left) sits between the Earth and the galaxy that contains the distant star. The team had been using Hubble to monitor a supernova in the far-off spiral galaxy when, in 2016, they spotted a point of light near the supernova that began to brighten. Even though the object subsequently became three times brighter in one month, the colors of the light coming from the object did not change. Analysis of these colors showed it was a blue supergiant star in the background galaxy whose magnification grew for several weeks due to an intervening object, probably a star, in the galaxy cluster. The panels at the right show the view in 2011, without Icarus visible, compared with the star’s brightening in 2016.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and P. Kelly (University of Minnesota)Image Details
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | MACS J1149 Lensed Star 1 (LS1) |
| Object Description | Gravitationally Lensed Star in Galaxy Cluster |
| R.A. Position | 11h 49m 35.661s |
| Dec. Position | 22° 23' 48.07" |
| Constellation | Leo |
| Distance | 9.4 billion light-years or redshift = 1.5 (LS1); 5 billion light-years (cluster) |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The HST observations include those from programs (M. Postman), (T. Treu), (J. Lotz), and (S. Rodney), and , , , , and (P. Kelly). |
| Instrument | WFC3/IR, ACS/WFC |
| Filters | ACS/WFC: F606W and F814W WFC3/IR: F105W, F125W, F140W, and F160W |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | These images are composites of separate exposures acquired by the ACS and WFC3 instruments on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample broad 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: F606W+F814W Green: F105W+F125W Red: F140W+F160W |
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Image and source material are credited to the official mission archive linked below.
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