Europe’s Euclid space telescope has detected an unusual halo of bright light around a nearby galaxy, 590 million light-years away. This rare phenomenon, known as an Einstein ring, encircles the galaxy due to gravity from a more distant galaxy that is over 4 billion light-years away. The faraway galaxy distorts light through gravitational lensing, a process named after Albert Einstein.
The observation was surprising since astronomers had been aware of this galaxy for over a century. Euclid’s discovery provides valuable scientific insights and is considered particularly special due to its proximity to Earth and unique alignment.
Conor O’Riordan, lead author from Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, described the finding as “incredibly useful scientifically.” The Euclid mission, launched in 2023, aims to detect dark energy and dark matter in the universe.
Source: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/in-our-cosmic-neighborhood-space-telescope-spots-rare-einstein-ring-of-light-around-galaxy