Hubble image archive

Gravitational Lens Forms Giant Arc

This illustration shows how an image of a background galaxy is distorted and magnified by the gravitational field of a foreground galaxy. In this alignment gravity acts as a lens in space by warping space like a funhouse mirror. The image of a distant galaxy is stretched into a g...

Date
Jan 1, 2012
Mission
Hubble Space Telescope
Archive ID
hubblesite-images-2012-08-2981-image
By

This illustration shows how an image of a background galaxy is distorted and magnified by the gravitational field of a foreground galaxy. In this alignment gravity acts as a lens in space by warping space like a funhouse mirror. The image of a distant galaxy is stretched into a giant arc.

Credits

NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI)

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Source

Image and source material are credited to the official mission archive linked below.

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