The most distant gravitational lens yet discovered

This picture from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows the most distant gravitational lens yet discovered. The glow at the centre of this picture is the central regions of a normal galaxy. By chance it is precisely aligned with a much more remote, young star-forming galaxy. The light from the more distant object is bent around the nearer object by its strong graviational pull to form a ring of multiple images. The chance of finding such an exact alignment is very small, suggesting that there may be more star-forming galaxies in the early Universe than expected.

Credit:

NASA/ESA/A. van der Wel

About the Image

Id:heic1319a
Type:Observation
Release date:17 October 2013, 16:00
Related releases:heic1319
Size:505 x 505 px

About the Object

Name:J1000+0221
Type:Early Universe : Galaxy : Type : Gravitationally Lensed
Distance:z=1.5 (redshift)
Category:Cosmology
Galaxies

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Colours & filters

BandWavelengthTelescope
Infrared
I
814 nm Hubble Space Telescope
ACS
Infrared
J
1.25 μm Hubble Space Telescope
WFC3
Infrared
H
1.6 μm Hubble Space Telescope
WFC3
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