#gravitational lensing

[spacewonder19]

Galaxy Lenses Galaxy from Webb ©

[rauko]

11 day exposure of Hubble Space Telescope UDF ability ['04] vs 1 day:

The first infrared render of James Webb Space Telescope's Ultra-Deep Field ability [galaxy cluster SMACS-0723, released 07.12.22]

[without-ado]

Jewelled Ring of the Lensed Quasar RXJ1131-1231 l Webb

[mindblowingscience]

Astronomers detect lowest mass dark object ever measured using gravitational lensing

Dark matter is an enigmatic form of matter not expected to emit light, yet it is essential to understanding how the rich tapestry of stars a

Dark matter is an enigmatic form of matter not expected to emit light, yet it is essential to understanding how the rich tapestry of stars and galaxies we see in the night sky evolved. As a fundamental building block of the universe, a key question for astronomers is whether dark matter is smooth or clumpy, as this could reveal what it is made of. Since dark matter cannot be observed directly, its properties can only be determined by observing the gravitational lensing effect, whereby the light from a more distant object is distorted and deflected by the gravity of the dark object. "Hunting for dark objects that do not seem to emit any light is clearly challenging," said Devon Powell at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics and lead author of the study. "Since we can't see them directly, we instead use very distant galaxies as a backlight to look for their gravitational imprints." The research is published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

Continue Reading.

[livingforstars]

Giant Cluster Bends, Breaks Images - June 14th, 1998.

"What are those strange blue objects? Many are images of a single, unusual, beaded, blue, ring-like galaxy, which just happens to line-up behind a giant cluster of galaxies. Cluster galaxies here appear yellow and - together with the cluster's dark matter - act as a gravitational lens. A gravitational lens can create several images of background galaxies, analogous to the many points of light one would see while looking through a wine glass at a distant street light. The distinctive shape of this background galaxy - which is probably just forming - has allowed astronomers to deduce that it has separate images at 4, 8, 9 and 10 o'clock, from the center of the cluster. Perhaps even the blue smudge located just left of the center is yet another image! This spectacular photo from HST was taken in October, 1994. The first cluster lens was found unexpectedly by Roger Lynds (NOAO) and Vahe Petrosian (Stanford) in 1986 while testing a new type of imaging device. Lensed arcs around this cluster, CL0024+1654, were first discovered from the ground by David Koo (UCO Lick) in 1988."

[spacetelescopescience]

This Hubble image showcases the “Molten Ring” galaxy. These golden strands of cosmic taffy are the result of gravitational lensing, where the light of a background galaxy is distorted by the gravity of an intervening galaxy cluster: https://bit.ly/3yKXojR

[odinsblog]

Astronomers have spotted the closest ever Einstein Ring, which Albert Einstein himself thought would be impossible to observe.

Learn more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2467413-stunning-image-shows-the-closest-ever-einstein-ring/

[colorpicked-pride-flags-jwst]

Demisensual flag colorpicked from distant galaxy MRG-M0138, where a supernova can be seen twice (circled) due to gravitational lensing! In 2035, a 3rd image of the supernova will appear