NASA explains 'gravitational lensing' in stunning image of galaxy LRG-3-817

On November 13, NASA shared a stunning image of the galaxy LRG-3-817, also known as SDSS J090122.37+181432.3 distorted by the effects of 'gravitational lensing'. In an Instagram post, NASA’s Hubble shared the central galaxy cluster that appeared hazy with a long arc to the left bent due to the strong gravitational forces that stretched the light-emitting galaxy. “In this #HubbleFriday image, the galaxy LRG-3-817 appears as a long arc just to the left of the central galaxy cluster,” NASA’s Hubble informed in the caption.  “It looks distorted because of an effect called gravitational lensing, which happens when a huge collection of matter (like the galaxy cluster pictured here) sits between Earth and a distant source of light,” it added. 

The gravitational lensing makes the distant galaxies look largely distorted, stretched, or magnified and makes it difficult to measure, as galaxies clustered in compact structure bends the light enormously. It appears as though, one was looking at the celestial objects via a giant magnifying glass.

[Galaxy cluster Abell 370, located about 4 billion light-years away, contains an astounding assortment of several hundred galaxies tied together by the mutual pull of gravity. Entangled among the galaxies are mysterious-looking arcs of blue light. These are actually distorted images of remote galaxies behind the cluster. Credit: NASA, ESA, and J. Lotz and the HFF Team]

[On the left is a Hubble Space Telescope image of the galaxy cluster Cl 0024+17. On the right is the same image overlaid with a distorted map of the cluster’s mass distribution. The ring-like structure evident in the map is one of the strongest pieces of evidence to date for the existence of dark matter. Credit: NASA, ESA, M. J. Jee, and H. Ford/ Johns Hopkins University]

[The gravity of a luminous red galaxy (LRG) has gravitationally distorted the light from a much more distant blue galaxy. More typically, such light bending results in two discernible images of the distant galaxy. Credit: NASA]

Read: NASA's Parker Solar Probe Captures Sungrazing Comet For The First Time

Read: SpaceX-NASA Delay Crew-1 Astronaut Launch Due To Rocket Recovery Weather

Mass concentrations distort space

“When taken to the extreme, gravity can create some intriguing visual effects that Hubble’s is well suited to observing. Einstein’s general theory of relativity describes how mass concentrations distort the space around them,” NASA described in a release. Explaining the phenomenon further, it added that a gravitational lens can occur when a huge amount of matter, like a cluster of galaxies, creates a gravitational field that distorts and magnifies the light from distant galaxies that are behind it but in the same line of sight.

According to NASA, the gravitational lensing actually assists the scientists and researchers in studying minute details of early galaxies too far away to be seen with current technology and telescopes. “Smaller objects, like individual stars, can also act as gravitational lenses when they pass in front of more distant stars,” NASA explained. The distant stars in the cluster galaxies might appear brighter or dimmer at places due to intense gravity of the closer object, this phenomenon is known as gravitational microlensing, NASA elaborated. “These lensed images also act as probes of the matter distribution in the galaxy cluster,” the agency said. 

Read: SpaceX Set For First Operational Crew Mission To ISS, Will Carry NASA & JAXA Astronauts

Read: SpaceX To Send Astronaut Crew To ISS In NASA’s First Operational Mission