WASHINGTON—Using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, scientists have discovered the most distant individual star on record, a bright behemoth they nicknamed Earendel—Old English for “morning star”—because it existed during the dawn of the universe. Researchers said the star, very hot and blue in color, was estimated at 50 to 100 times the mass of our sun, while being millions of times brighter. Its light traveled for 12.9 billion years before reaching Earth, meaning that the star existed when the universe was just 7 percent of its current age. Explaining its nickname, Welch said the researchers figured that the “morning star” existing during the Cosmic Dawn period was “a good parallel.” “It’s also for the ‘Lord of the Rings’ nerds out there,” he added, noting that Earendel is the same Old English word that author J.R.R. Tolkien used for inspiration for a character from his work “The Silmarillion” that becomes a star. …