... In one situation, we can use light from quasars to probe the material between us and them because that light may pass through one or more galaxies or gas clouds on its way to us. The gas inside the galaxies or the intergalactic clouds acts then as a filter, absorbing selected wavelengths from the quasar light. ... Light from a quasar must pass through clouds of gas and even faint galaxies -- each leaving its imprint on the light -- before we receive it here on Earth. ... Gravitational lensing . ...