MACS J1149 Lensed Star 1
Detection of MACS J1149 Lensed Star 1 A galactic cluster (left) magnified a distant star (now named Icarus) more than 2,000 times, making it visible in 2016 from Earth (lower right), 9.34 billion light-years away—although visible in 2016, the star was not visible in 2011 (upper right). | |
| Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000 | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Leo |
| Right ascension | 11h 49m 35.59s |
| Declination | 22° 23′ 47.4″ |
| Astrometry | |
| Distance | Redshift of 1.49 yields comoving distances of 14.4 billion ly |
| Characteristics | |
| Spectral type | B |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | ≈28.4 (normally 29.9) |
| Apparent magnitude (R) | ≈28.2 (normally 29.7) |
| Apparent magnitude (Z) | ≈27.9 (normally 29.4) |
| Apparent magnitude (J) | 27.3 (normally 28.8) |
| Apparent magnitude (H) | 27.4 (normally 28.9) |
| Details | |
| Surface gravity (log g) | 2 - 4 cgs |
| Temperature | 11,000 – 14,000 K |
| Metallicity | ≈0.006 |
| Age | ~8 Myr |
| Other designations | |
| Icarus, LS1, MACS J1149 LS1, MACS J1149 Lensed Star 1 (LS1), MACS J1149+2223 Lensed Star 1 | |
MACS J1149 Lensed Star 1, also known as Icarus, is a blue supergiant star observed through a gravitational lens. It is the seventh most distant individual star to have been detected so far (after Earendel, Godzilla, Mothra, Quyllur, star-1 and star-2), at approximately 14 billion light-years from Earth (redshift z=1.49; comoving distance of 14.4 billion light-years; lookback time of 9.34 billion years). Light from the star was emitted 4.4 billion years after the Big Bang. According to co-discoverer Patrick Kelly, the star is at least a hundred times more distant than the next-farthest non-supernova star observed, SDSS J1229+1122, and is the first magnified individual star seen.