Earendel: The Most Distant Star Ever Seen or a Cluster?

Earendel (Astronomical Object)

Earendel, discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope, holds the record as the most distant known star at 28 billion light-years away. Named after the 'morning star' from Old English and Tolkien's lore, its light was magnified by gravitational lensing. While initially hailed as a single massive star, new James Webb Space Telescope data suggests it might actually be a young star cluster, challenging our understanding of the early universe.

"Spectroscopic fitting using JWST data indicates that Earendel is most likely a star cluster, or more specifically a metal-poor globular cluster progenitor, rather than a single star system."