Twinkle, twinkle giant star, astronomers see how far you are

By MARCIA DUNN
AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have discovered the farthest star yet, a super-hot, super-bright giant that formed nearly 13 billion years ago at the dawn of the cosmos. But this luminous blue star is long gone, so massive that it almost certainly exploded just a few million years after emerging. Its swift demise makes it all the more incredible that an international team spotted it with observations by the Hubble Space Telescope. Their findings were published Wednesday. The previous record-holder is also a blue supergiant star spotted by Hubble, formed about 9 billion years ago.