Hubble Captures the Star Icarus

Icarus, whose official name is MACS J1149+2223 Lensed Star 1, is one of the farthest individual stars ever seen. It is only visible because it is being magnified by the gravity of a massive galaxy cluster, located about 5 billion light-years from Earth. Called MACS J1149+2223, this cluster, shown at left, sits between Earth and the galaxy that contains the distant star. The panels at the right show the view in 2011, without Icarus visible, compared with the star's brightening in 2016.