A Gallery of Gravitational Mirages
Explanation:
The deeper you peer into the universe,
the harder it is to see straight.
The reason is that distant galaxies act as
gravitational lenses,
deflecting light that passes nearby.
These deflections result in the
distortion of background sources,
and in some cases the
creation of multiple images.
Pictured above, candidate artifacts of
gravitational lensing have been
found in images from the
Medium Deep Survey being done with the
Hubble Space Telescope.
Background source images that are
lensed by foreground galaxies include quasars, appearing as
multiple blue smudges,
and galaxies, distorted into
curving arcs.
Unusual and interesting
candidates for gravitational lensing include an
edge-on galaxy disk
which might be acting as a lens
(upper left) and an image nicknamed
London Underground
(far left) which could well be the
distortion of a background galaxy into an
optical Einstein ring.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
