Hubble Finds Double Einstein Ring

Natalie 01-11-2008

A very rare phenomenon found with the Hubble Space Telescope may offer insights into dark matter, dark energy, the nature of distant galaxies, and even the curvature of the Universe, according to an international team of astronomers who are reporting at the 211th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Austin, Texas.

The team led by Raphael Gavazzi and Tommaso Treu of the University of California, Santa Barbara, found the double Einstein ring as part of the ongoing Sloan Lens Advanced Camera for Surveys (SLACS) program.

The phenomenon, called gravitational lensing, occurs when a massive galaxy in the foreground bends the light rays from a distant galaxy behind it, in much the same way as a magnifying glass would.

When both galaxies are exactly lined up, the light forms a circle, called an “Einstein ring”, around the foreground galaxy.

If another more distant galaxy lies precisely on the same sightline, a second, larger ring will appear. The odds of seeing such a special alignment are so small that Tommaso says that they “hit the jackpot” with this discovery.

“Such stunning cosmic coincidences reveal so much about nature. Dark matter is not hidden to lensing,” added Leonidas Moustakas of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, USA. “The elegance of this lens is trumped only by the secrets of nature that it reveals.”

The massive foreground galaxy is almost perfectly aligned in the sky with two background galaxies at different distances. The foreground galaxy is 3 billion light-years away. The inner ring and outer ring are comprised of multiple images of two galaxies at a distance of 6 billion and approximately 11 billion light-years.

Raven

It took me a while to understand this but basically its 2 galaxies that appear as a circle from the light reflections it gives off. I want to go visit.

SamiJo

This is pretty amazing, especially considering the distance they are apart in light years.

would be cool to find a telescope strong enough to see this or attempt to see it since it seems its a rare chance.

spawnschickishot

omg this is too kool now im sure other life forms exsist!! i wanna go visit too with raven

paulyg

Here's my question...it says that "The foreground galaxy is 3 billion light-years away. The inner ring and outer ring are comprised of multiple images of two galaxies at a distance of 6 billion and approximately 11 billion light-years."

Now, if the first one is only 3 away from the second...what's stoppin our Galaxy from getting sucked into this?

SamiJo

well I think the way it would work for this to happen to our galaxy would have to be seen from the other side. it is taking the light from the galaxy and bending it around its own, it would make sense that it would suck that from ours as well...but I don't think we have any telescopes out that far to know for sure.

I could be wrong but thats just the way I understand it

Nina

I think your right Sami, I don't we have any thing that powerfl to view as far as getting a real picture. Most of the things are for heat patterns and weather patterns mostly.