Hubble Captures a Dozen Sunburst Arc Doppelgangers

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Hubble Captures a Dozen Sunburst Arc Doppelgangers

Post by bystander » Fri Nov 08, 2019 6:31 am

Hubble Captures a Dozen Sunburst Arc Doppelgangers
ESA Hubble Photo Release | 2019 Nov 07
Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have observed a galaxy in the distant regions of the Universe which appears duplicated at least 12 times on the night sky. This unique sight, created by strong gravitational lensing, helps astronomers get a better understanding of the cosmic era known as the epoch of reionisation.

This new image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows an astronomical object whose image is multiplied by the effect of strong gravitational lensing. The galaxy, nicknamed the Sunburst Arc, is almost 11 billion light-years away from Earth and has been lensed into multiple images by a massive cluster of galaxies 4.6 billion light-years away [1].

The mass of the galaxy cluster is large enough to bend and magnify the light from the more distant galaxy behind it. This process leads not only to a deformation of the light from the object, but also to a multiplication of the image of the lensed galaxy.

In the case of the Sunburst Arc the lensing effect led to at least 12 images of the galaxy, distributed over four major arcs. Three of these arcs are visible in the top right of the image, while one counterarc is visible in the lower left — partially obscured by a bright foreground star within the Milky Way.

Hubble uses these cosmic magnifying glasses to study objects otherwise too faint and too small for even its extraordinarily sensitive instruments. The Sunburst Arc is no exception, despite being one of the brightest gravitationally lensed galaxies known. ...

Hubble Captures a Dozen Galaxy Doppelgangers
NASA | GSFC | STScI | HubbleSite | 2019 Nov 07

Gravitational Lensing Reveals Ionizing Ultraviolet Photons Escaping from a Distant Galaxy ~ T. Emil Rivera-Thorsen et al Hubble Captures Multiply-Imaged Ionizing Radiation from Strongly Lensed Galaxy at z=2.4 ~ T. Emil Rivera-Thorsen et al
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