The most distant gravitational lens yet discovered
This picture from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the most distant gravitational lens yet discovered. The glow at the centre of this picture is the central regions of a normal galaxy. By chance it is precisely aligned with a much more remote, young star-forming galaxy. The light from the more distant object is bent around the nearer object by its strong graviational pull to form a ring of multiple images. The chance of finding such an exact alignment is very small, suggesting that there may be more star-forming galaxies in the early Universe than expected.
Credit:NASA/ESA/A. van der Wel
About the Image
Id: | heic1319a |
Type: | Observation |
Release date: | 17 October 2013, 16:00 |
Related releases: | heic1319 |
Size: | 505 x 505 px |
About the Object
Name: | J1000+0221 |
Type: | Early Universe : Galaxy : Type : Gravitationally Lensed |
Distance: | z=1.5 (redshift) |
Category: | Cosmology Galaxies |
Colours & filters
Band | Wavelength | Telescope |
---|---|---|
Infrared I | 814 nm |
Hubble Space Telescope
ACS |
Infrared J | 1.25 μm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFC3 |
Infrared H | 1.6 μm |
Hubble Space Telescope
WFC3 |