As science progresses, astronomy is going far and beyond the orbit of Earth and astronomers have now found the most distant star in the Milky Way galaxy. More than 200 such distant variable stars known as RR Lyrae stars have been discovered in the galaxy’s stellar halo.
RR Lyrae are old stars with very specific physical properties that cause them to expand and contract in a regularly repeating cycle. Astronomers can identify an RR Lyrae star from its characteristic pulsations, then use its observed brightness to calculate how far away it is.
