An elliptical galaxy (at center) is seen being wrapped by a spiral galaxy forming a single “Einstein ring,” but in reality is the result of a cosmic lens overlapping the two distant celestial structures. (Image credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, G. Mahler)
An elliptical galaxy and a spiral galaxy appear as one celestial body as a result of the effects of mass on spacetime, the fabric of the universe.
Why is this amazing?
Two celestial bodies become one in a rare cosmic phenomenon called an “Einstein ring.”
Einstein rings are the result of light from one very distant object being lensed, or “bent” about a massive object located in between the target and the viewer. This effect — which demonstrates that light and spacetime, the fabric of the universe, can be bent by mass — cannot be observed on a local level.
