Photo credit: NASA
NASA / ESA’s Hubble Space Telescope observes an elliptical galaxy with a brightly glowing core, classified as SDSS J020941.27+001558.4. The curved crescent of light, a phenomenon known as an Einstein ring, that you see is the ‘lensed’ light from the very distant galaxy HerS J020941.1+001557.
Einstein rings basically happen when light from a very distant object is bent around a massive intermediate object. An Einstein ring is far too subtle to be observed on a local level, but sometimes becomes clearly observable when dealing with curvatures of light on enormous, astronomical scales, such as when the light emitted from a galaxy is bent around another galaxy or galaxy cluster.
- LEGO NASA Space Set - This adult LEGO set features the Space Shuttle Discovery and the Hubble Space Telescope from NASA’s 1990 STS-31 mission,...
- Solar System Exploration - Unlock the mysteries of our solar system with this engaging 2,354-piece project, packed with authentic details and...
- Shuttle Features Galore - The space shuttle model has an opening payload bay, retractable landing gear, opening cockpit, moving elevons, space arm,...
When the lensed object and the lensing object line up just so, the result is the distinctive Einstein ring shape, which appears as a full or partial circle of light around the lensing object, depending on how precise the alignment is,” said the ESA.
[Source]
