List of most distant stars

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This is a list of the most distant individually seen stars discovered, a list of the most distant stars that are separately known, resolved as individual stars, or as multiple star systems. It is not a list of sources that should contain stars that are distant but no separate stars within that source are separately known, such as unresolved stars in star clusters, galaxies, galaxy clusters.

Contents

Distances to stars may be determined through parallax measurements, use of standard references such as cepheid variables or Type Ia supernovas to the object in which the star resides, or redshift measurement. Spectroscopic redshift measurement is preferred, while photometric redshift measurement is also used to identify candidate high redshift sources. The symbol z represents redshift

Most distant stars

List of most distant individually seen stars
StarRedshiftDistance (Mpc)DiscoveryNotes
WHL0137-LS (Earendel)6.2±0.1 [1] 8,6002022The most distant known star as of 2023. Most likely a star cluster. [2]
MACS J0647.7+7015 LS14.8 [3] 7,8302023
MACS J0647.7+7015 LS2
Abell 2744 LS12.65 [4] 6,1102022
Godzilla 2.38 [5] 5,7802022The most luminous known star.
Quyllur 2.1878 [6] 5,5402023First red supergiant at cosmological distances.
Mothra 2.091 [7] 5,4002023A binary consisting of a yellow supergiant or yellow hypergiant and a Blue supergiant.
MACS J1149 Lensed Star 1 (Icarus)1.49 [8] 4,4102018The most distant known star prior to the discovery of Earendel.
Warhol0.94 [9] 3,0002014Transient, extremely luminous O-type star or a Large Wolf-Rayet star [10]
[ Clarify why the following are among the most distant. ]
AT 2022zmn 0.019 [11] 842022 Luminous blue variable.
AT 2022oku 0.018 [12] 792022 Luminous blue variable.
AT 2018kle 0.012505 [13] 552018 Luminous blue variable.
SDSS J1229+1122 0.00012717
[ clarification needed ]		2013 Blue supergiant.

List of most distant stars by type

List of most distant stars by type
TypeStarDistanceDateNotesRef.
Most distant, any type Earendel
(WHL0137-LS)		z=6.2 [NB 1] [NB 2] 2022This star is gravitationally lensed [14] [15] [16]
Most distant cepheid variable P42130 Mly (40 Mpc)As of 2024This cepheid is located in galaxy NGC 5468 [17] [18] [19]
  • z represents redshift, a measure of recessional velocity and inferred distance due to cosmological expansion
  • mas represents parallax, a measure of angle and distance can be determined through trigonometry
  • pc represents parsec, a measure of distance, the distance that a parallax of an arcsecond corresponds with
  • ly represents lightyear, a measure of distance, the distance that light travels in a year

List of most distant stars by event type

List of most distant stellar events
TypeEventDistanceDateNotes
Most distant gamma ray burst (GRB) GRB 090423 z=8.2 [NB 1] 2009At the time of discovery, this was the most distant known object found so far. [20] [21] [22]
  • z represents redshift, a measure of recessional velocity and inferred distance due to cosmological expansion
  • mas represents parallax, a measure of angle and distance can be determined through trigonometry
  • pc represents parsec, a measure of distance, the distance that a parallax of an arcsecond corresponds with
  • ly represents lightyear, a measure of distance, the distance that light travels in a year

Timeline of most distant star recordholders

The succession of most distant separately known star


Stars in these lists were found to be the most distant star at the time of determination of their distance. This is frequently not the same as the date of their discovery. [ Use consistent units for distances. ]

Most distant star titleholders [NB 3]
StarTypeDateDistance then
estimated		NotesRefs.
Earendel
(WHL0137-LS)		2022–z=6.2 [NB 1] [NB 2] This star is gravitationally lensed [14] [15] [16]
Icarus
(MACS J1149+2223 LS1)		 B-I
(blue supergiant)		2018−2022z=1.49 [NB 1] [NB 4] This star is gravitationally lensed [23] [16] [24] [25]
Arcturus
(Alpha Bootis)		Solitary star1891−1910160 ly
(18 mas)
(this was very inaccurate, true=37 ly)		This number is wrong; originally announced in 1891, the figure was corrected in 1910 to 40 ly (60 mas).
From 1891 to 1910, it had been thought this was the star with the smallest known parallax, hence the most distant star whose distance was known.
Prior to 1891, Arcturus had previously been recorded of having a parallax of 127 mas.		 [26] [27] [28] [29]
Capella
(Alpha Aurigae)		Solitary star1849−72 ly
(46 mas)		 [30] [31] [32]
Polaris
(Alpha Ursae Minoris)		 Variable star, solitary star1847−184950 ly
(80 mas)
(this was very inaccurate, true=~375 ly)		 [33] [34]
Vega
(Alpha Lyrae)		Star (part of a double star pair)1839−18477.77 pc
(125 mas)		 [33]
61 Cygni Binary star 1838−18393.48 pc
(313.6 mas)		This was the first star other than the Sun to have its distance measured. [33] [35] [36]
Sun Solitary star3rd century BC – 1609380 Earth radii
(very inaccurate, true=16000 Earth radii)		 Aristarchus of Samos made a measurement of the distance of the Sun from the Earth in relation to the distance of the Moon from the Earth.
The distance to the Moon was described in Earth radii (20, also inaccurate).
The diameter of the Earth had been calculated previously.
At the time, it was assumed that some of the planets were further away, but their distances could not be measured.
The order of the planets was conjecture until Kepler determined the distances from the Sun of the five known planets other than Earth.
It had been conjectured that the fixed stars were much farther away than the planets.
  • z represents redshift, a measure of recessional velocity and inferred distance due to cosmological expansion
  • mas represents milliarcseconds of parallax, a measure of angle and distance can be determined through trigonometry
  • pc represents parsec, a measure of distance, the distance that a parallax of an arcsecond corresponds with
  • ly represents lightyear, a measure of distance, the distance that light travels in a year

Timeline of most distant star outburst recordholders

The succession of most distant separately known star explosion


Stars in these lists were found to be the most distant star at the time of determination of their distance. This is frequently not the same as the date of their discovery. These stars are known by having a singular event occur at the star, such as a supernova.

Most Distant Star Outburst Titleholders [NB 3]
EventTypeDateDistanceNotes
GRB 090423 Gamma-ray burst 2009–z=8.2 [NB 1] At the time of discovery, this was the most distant known object found so far. [20] [21] [22]
SN 1988U Supernova 1988–z=0.31 [NB 1] Located in the galaxy cluster AC118 [37] [38] [39] [40]
  • z represents redshift, a measure of recessional velocity and inferred distance due to cosmological expansion
  • mas represents parallax, a measure of angle and distance can be determined through trigonometry
  • pc represents parsec, a measure of distance, the distance that a parallax of an arcsecond corresponds with
  • ly represents lightyear, a measure of distance, the distance that light travels in a year

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Measured by redshift (z)
  2. 1 2 Earendel: redshift z=6.2; light-travel distance 12.9 Gly (1.22×1023 km; 7.6×1022 mi); comoving distance 28 Gly (2.6×1023 km; 1.6×1023 mi);
  3. 1 2 not including candidates based on photometric redshifts
  4. ↑ Icarus: redshift z=1.5; light-travel distance 9.5 Gly (9.0×1022 km; 5.6×1022 mi);

References

  1. ↑ Welch, Brian; Coe, Dan; Diego, Jose M.; Zitrin, Adi; Zackrisson, Erik; Dimauro, Paola; Jiménez-Teja, Yolanda; Kelly, Patrick; Mahler, Guillaume; Oguri, Masamune; Timmes, F. X.; Windhorst, Rogier; Florian, Michael; de Mink, S. E.; Avila, Roberto J. (March 2023). "A highly magnified star at redshift 6.2". Nature. 603 (7903): 815–818. arXiv: 2209.14866 . Bibcode:2022Natur.603..815W. doi:10.1038/s41586-022-04449-y. ISSN   1476-4687. PMID   35354998. S2CID   247842625.
  2. ↑ Pascale, Massimo; Dai, Liang; Frye, Brenda L.; Beverage, Aliza G. (August 2025). "Is Earendel a Star Cluster?: Metal-poor Globular Cluster Progenitors at z ∼ 6". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 988 (2): L76. arXiv: 2507.05483 . Bibcode:2025ApJ...988L..76P. doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/aded93 . L76.
  3. ↑ Meena, Ashish Kumar; Zitrin, Adi; Jiménez-Teja, Yolanda; Zackrisson, Erik; Chen, Wenlei; Coe, Dan; Diego, Jose M.; Dimauro, Paola; Furtak, Lukas J.; Kelly, Patrick L.; Oguri, Masamune; Welch, Brian; Abdurro’uf; Andrade-Santos, Felipe; Adamo, Angela (February 2023). "Two Lensed Star Candidates at z ≃ 4.8 behind the Galaxy Cluster MACS J0647.7+7015". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 944 (1): L6. arXiv: 2211.13334 . Bibcode:2023ApJ...944L...6M. doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/acb645 . hdl: 10810/61038 . ISSN   2041-8205.
  4. ↑ Chen, Wenlei; Kelly, Patrick L.; Treu, Tommaso; Wang, Xin; Roberts-Borsani, Guido; Keen, Allison; Windhorst, Rogier A.; Zhou, Rui; Bradac, Marusa; Brammer, Gabriel; Strait, Victoria; Broadhurst, Tom J.; Diego, Jose M.; Frye, Brenda L.; Meena, Ashish K. (1 December 2022). "Early Results from GLASS-JWST. VIII. An Extremely Magnified Blue Supergiant Star at Redshift 2.65 in the A2744 Cluster Field". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 940 (2): L54. arXiv: 2207.11658 . Bibcode:2022ApJ...940L..54C. doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ac9585 . hdl: 10810/59535 . ISSN   2041-8205.
  5. ↑ Diego, J. M.; Pascale, M.; Kavanagh, B. J.; Kelly, P.; Dai, L.; Frye, B.; Broadhurst, T. (1 September 2022). "Godzilla, a monster lurks in the Sunburst galaxy". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 665: A134. arXiv: 2203.08158 . Bibcode:2022A&A...665A.134D. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202243605 . ISSN   0004-6361. S2CID   247476158.
  6. ↑ Diego, J. M.; Meena, A. K.; Adams, N. J.; Broadhurst, T.; Dai, L.; Coe, D.; Frye, B.; Kelly, P.; Koekemoer, A. M.; Pascale, M.; Willner, S. P.; Zackrisson, E.; Zitrin, A.; Windhorst, R. A.; Cohen, S. H. (1 April 2023). "JWST's PEARLS: A new lens model for ACT-CL J0102−4915, "El Gordo," and the first red supergiant star at cosmological distances discovered by JWST". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 672: A3. arXiv: 2210.06514 . Bibcode:2023A&A...672A...3D. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202245238. ISSN   0004-6361. S2CID   252873244.
  7. ↑ Diego, Jose M.; Sun, Bangzheng; Yan, Haojing; Furtak, Lukas J.; Zackrisson, Erik; Dai, Liang; Kelly, Patrick; Nonino, Mario; Adams, Nathan; Meena, Ashish K.; Willner, Steven P.; Zitrin, Adi; Cohen, Seth H.; D’Silva, Jordan C. J.; Jansen, Rolf A. (1 November 2023). "JWST's PEARLS: Mothra, a new kaiju star at z = 2.091 extremely magnified by MACS0416, and implications for dark matter models". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 679: A31. arXiv: 2307.10363 . Bibcode:2023A&A...679A..31D. doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202347556 . ISSN   0004-6361. S2CID   259991552.
  8. ↑ Kelly, Patrick L.; Diego, Jose M.; Rodney, Steven; Kaiser, Nick; Broadhurst, Tom; Zitrin, Adi; Treu, Tommaso; Pérez-González, Pablo G.; Morishita, Takahiro; Jauzac, Mathilde; Selsing, Jonatan; Oguri, Masamune; Pueyo, Laurent; Ross, Timothy W.; Filippenko, Alexei V. (April 2018). "Extreme magnification of an individual star at redshift 1.5 by a galaxy-cluster lens". Nature Astronomy. 2 (4): 334–342. arXiv: 1706.10279 . Bibcode:2018NatAs...2..334K. doi:10.1038/s41550-018-0430-3. hdl:10261/170462. ISSN   2397-3366. S2CID   256703331.
  9. ↑ Chen, Wenlei (2019). "Searching for Highly Magnified Stars at Cosmological Distances: Discovery of a Redshift 0.94 Blue Supergiant in Archival Images of the Galaxy Cluster MACS J0416.1-2403". The Astrophysical Journal. 881 (1): 8. arXiv: 1902.05510 . Bibcode:2019ApJ...881....8C. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab297d .
  10. ↑ Chen, Wenlei; Kelly, Patrick L.; Diego, Jose M.; Oguri, Masamune; Williams, Liliya L. R.; Zitrin, Adi; Treu, Tommaso L.; Smith, Nathan; Broadhurst, Thomas J.; Kaiser, Nick; Foley, Ryan J.; Filippenko, Alexei V.; Salo, Laura; Hjorth, Jens; Selsing, Jonatan (2019). "Searching for Highly Magnified Stars at Cosmological Distances: Discovery of a Redshift 0.94 Blue Supergiant in Archival Images of the Galaxy Cluster MACS J0416.1-2403". The Astrophysical Journal. 881 (1): 8. arXiv: 1902.05510 . Bibcode:2019ApJ...881....8C. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/ab297d .
  11. ↑ "AT 2020zmn". Transient Name Server. IAU . Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  12. ↑ "AT 2022oku". Transient Name Server. IAU . Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  13. ↑ "AT 2018kle". Transient Name Server. IAU . Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  14. 1 2 Brian Welch, Dan Coe1, Jose M. Diego, Adi Zitrin, Erik Zackrisson, Paola Dimauro, Yolanda Jiménez-Teja, Patrick Kelly, Guillaume Mahler, Masamune Oguri, F. X. Timmes, Rogier Windhorst, Michael Florian, S. E. de Mink, Roberto J. Avila, Jay Anderson, Larry Bradley, Keren Sharon, Anton Vikaeus, Stephan McCandliss, Maruša Bradač, Jane Rigby, Brenda Frye, Sune Toft, Victoria Strait, Michele Trenti, Soniya Sharma, Felipe Andrade-Santos, Tom Broadhurst (28 July 2021). "A highly magnified star at redshift 6.2". Nature. 603 (603) (published 30 March 2022): 815–818. arXiv: 2209.14866 . Bibcode:2022Natur.603..815W. doi:10.1038/s41586-022-04449-y. PMID   35354998.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. 1 2 Kenneth C. Wong (4 May 2022). "A star from the dawn of the Universe". Nature Astronomy (6): 527–528.
  16. 1 2 3 Elizabeth Gamillo. "Hubble Telescope Spots the Most Distant Star Ever Detected in Outer Space". Smithosonian Magazine.
  17. ↑ Amy Moran (13 June 2024). "Webb, Hubble Telescopes Affirm Universe's Expansion Rate". Scientific Visualization Studio. NASA. 31293.
  18. ↑ Marty McCoy (23 October 2024). "Cepheid Variable Star P42 in NGC 5468". NASA. 01hr59vhj7fpb7sw3cgrtaz8e5.
  19. ↑ "NGC 5468 — Cepheid host galaxy". Webb Space Telescope. ESA. 11 March 2024. weic2408a.
  20. 1 2 Rachel Courtland (27 April 2009). "Most distant object in the universe spotted". New Scientist . Retrieved 11 November 2009.
  21. 1 2 Tanvir, N. R.; Fox, D . B.; Levan, A. J.; Berger, E.; W iersema, K.; F ynbo, J. P. U.; Cucchiara, A.; Krühler, T.; Gehrels, N.; Bloom, J. S.; Greiner, J.; Evans, P. A.; Rol, E.; Olivares, F.; Hjorth, J.; Jakobsson, P.; Farihi, J.; Willingale, R.; Starling, R. L. C.; Cenko, S. B.; Perley, D.; Maund, J. R.; Duke, J.; Wijers, R. A. M. J.; Adamson, A. J.; Allan, A.; Bremer, M. N.; Burrows, D. N.; Castro-Tirado, A. J.; Cavanagh, B. (2009). "A gamma-ray burst at a redshift of z~8.2". Nature. 461 (7268): 1254–7. arXiv: 0906.1577 . Bibcode:2009Natur.461.1254T. doi:10.1038/nature08459. PMID   19865165. S2CID   205218350.
  22. 1 2 Nial Tanvir, Henri Boffin, Valeria Foncea (28 April 2009). "The Most Distant Object Yet Discovered in the Universe". eso0917. ESO. PR 17/09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  23. ↑ Patrick L. Kelly, Jose M. Diego, Steven Rodney, Nick Kaiser, Tom Broadhurst, Adi Zitrin, Tommaso Treu, Pablo G. Pérez-González, Takahiro Morishita, Mathilde Jauzac, Jonatan Selsing, Masamune Oguri, Laurent Pueyo, Timothy W. Ross, Alexei V. Filippenko, Nathan Smith, Jens Hjorth, S. Bradley Cenko, Xin Wang, D. Andrew Howell, Johan Richard, Brenda L. Frye, Saurabh W. Jha, Ryan J. Foley, Colin Norman, Marusa Bradac, Weikang Zheng, Gabriel Brammer, Alberto Molino Benito, Antonio Cava, Lise Christensen, Selma E. de Mink, Or Graur, Claudio Grillo, Ryota Kawamata, Jean-Paul Kneib, Thomas Matheson, Curtis McCully, Mario Nonino, Ismael Pérez-Fournon, Adam G. Riess, Piero Rosati, Kasper Borello Schmidt, Keren Sharon, Benjamin J. Weiner (30 October 2017). "Extreme magnification of an individual star at redshift 1.5 by a galaxy-cluster lens". Nature Astronomy. 2 (4) (published 2 April 2018): 334–342. arXiv: 1706.10279 . Bibcode:2018NatAs...2..334K. doi:10.1038/s41550-018-0430-3. hdl: 10261/170462 .{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ↑ "Hubble uses cosmic lens to discover most distant star ever observed". Hubble Space Telescope. ESA. 2 April 2018. heic1807.
  25. ↑ Nicola Davis (2 April 2018). "Hubble space telescope captures image of most distant star ever seen". The Guardian.
  26. ↑ Hawera & Normanby Star, "Items of Interest", 29 December 1910, Volume LX, page 3 . Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  27. ↑ Evening Star (San Jose), "Colossal Arcturus", Pittsburgh Dispatch, 10 June 1910 . Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  28. ↑ Nelson Evening Mail , "British Bloodthirstiness", 2 November 1891, Volume XXV, Issue 230, Page 3 . Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  29. ↑ "Handbook of astronomy", Dionysius Lardner & Edwin Dunkin, Lockwood & Co. (1875), p.121
  30. ↑ "The Three Heavens", Josiah Crampton, William Hunt and Company (1876), p.164
  31. ↑ (in German) Kosmos: Entwurf einer physischen Weltbeschreibung , Volume 4, Alexander von Humboldt, J. G. Cotta (1858), p.195
  32. ↑ "Outlines of Astronomy", John F. W. Herschel, Longman & Brown (1849), ch. 'Parallax of Stars', p.551 (section 851)
  33. 1 2 3 The North American Review, "The Observatory at Pulkowa", FGW Struve, Volume 69 Issue 144 (July 1849)
  34. ↑ The Sidereal Messenger, "Of the Precession of the Equinoxes, Nutation of the Earth's Axis, And Aberration of Light", Vol.1, No.12, April 1847: 'Derby, Bradley, & Co.' Cincinnati
  35. ↑ SEDS, "Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel (July 22, 1784 – March 17, 1846)" Archived February 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved 11 November 2009.
  36. ↑ Harper's New Monthly Magazine , "Some Talks of an Astronomer", Simon Newcomb, Volume 0049 Issue 294 (November 1874), pp.827 (accessed 2009-Nov-11)
  37. ↑ Richard West (9 September 1988). "Most Distant Star Ever Seen: Supernova Explodes 5 Billion Years Ago". eso8807. ESO. PR 07/88.
  38. ↑ "A supernova explodes 5 billion years ago". eso8807a. ESO. 9 September 1988. eso8807.
  39. ↑ Hans U. Nørgaard-Nielsen, Leif Hansen, Henning E. Jørgensen, Alfonso Aragón Salamanca, Richard S. Ellis, Warrick J. Couch (June 1989). "The discovery of a type Ia supernova at a redshift of 0.31". Nature. 339 (6225): 523–525. Bibcode:1989Natur.339..523N. doi:10.1038/339523a0.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  40. ↑ "1989Natur.339..523N". SIMBAD.

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