Einstein Ring Reveals Secrets of Ancient Star Formation
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Chapter 1: The Cosmic Lens
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured an extraordinary image of an Einstein ring, providing a window into a time of intense star formation in the universe.
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Section 1.1: Understanding Gravitational Lensing
Just as a lens can bend light, massive gravitational fields also warp the paths of light. This phenomenon stretches and distorts light paths, akin to how light travels through a children's telescope.
Observations from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) indicate that the galaxy at the center of this remarkable image is situated approximately 9.4 billion light years away from Earth. At the moment the light began its journey, the universe was experiencing a peak in star formation activity.
Section 1.2: The Discovery of GAL-CLUS-022058s
In December 2020, the Hubble team unveiled a new image of a distant galaxy named GAL-CLUS-022058s, whose light has been warped into an Einstein Ring by an immense gravitational field.
The analysis of this 9.4-billion-year-old light shows astronomers observing the galaxy as it existed during a period of prolific star formation, with rates in the brightest dusty galaxies reaching up to 1,000 times greater than what we observe today.
This intense star formation might explain the abundance of giant elliptical galaxies scattered throughout the universe.
Chapter 2: The Legacy of Einstein
Albert Einstein first introduced the concept of gravitational lensing in 1912, which he later integrated into his General Theory of Relativity. The Einstein ring depicted in this image illustrates multiple images of a group of stars located in the background.
This gravitational distortion also magnified the image by a factor of 20, allowing us to observe this distant galaxy as if we were using a space telescope with a diameter of 49 meters (157 feet).
Captured in December by Saurabh Jha from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, GAL-CLUS-022058s is positioned within the Fornax constellation, also known as the Furnace. Jha affectionately dubbed this phenomenon "The Molten Ring" due to the swirling nature of the light from this distant galaxy and the name of its constellation.
James Maynard, the creator and publisher of The Cosmic Companion, resides in Tucson, Arizona, with his wife, Nicole, and their cat, Max.
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