Looking halfway across the observable universe and expecting to see individual stars is considered a non-starter in astronomy, a bit like raising a pair of binoculars at the moon in hopes of making out individual grains of dust inside its craters.

Gravitational lenses have been used previously to resolve individual stars in the distant Universe. Using the microlensing of rogue intracluster stars, a team led by astronomer Yoshinobu Fudamoto of Chiba University in Japan was able to resolve an unprecedented 44 individual stars in the smeared light of the Dragon Arc.

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope identified over 40 stars in a galaxy 6.5 billion light-years away, thanks to gravitational lensing through galaxy cluster Abell 370. This unprecedented observation offers insights into early galaxy formation and the role of dark matter.

Telescopes like Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope can observe some incredibly distant galaxies, stretching all the way back to the early universe. However, spotting individual stars in distant galaxies is tricky even for Webb and its massive primary mirror.

Photos from the James Webb Space Telescope have revealed more than 40 stars within the gravitationally lensed "Dragon Arc" galaxy, 6.5 billion light-years from Earth. It is the largest group of individually imaged stars ever seen at such a distance.

The James Webb Space Telescope captured images of 44 individual stars in a gorgeous portrait of a distant galaxy.