A distant galaxy has been seen curving around a giant star, in what NASA describes as a “molten ring”, also known as the Einstein ring. The object in question was described as a “very rare phenomenon” by the space agency. The Hubble Space Telescope managed to capture the object, which bears the attractive name of GAL-CLUS-022058s.
According to NASA, the image shows a distant galaxy curving around a cluster galaxy.
It is caused by a phenomenon known as the gravitational lens.
If an object in space is massive enough, such as the Sun, its gravitational field would be so intense that its mass can deform the fabric of space – space-time – and cause light to bend.
It works in a similar way to a magnifying glass, for example, which bends light through the lens, making an object appear closer.
Gravitational lensing was first theorized by Albert Einstein in his general relative theory.
Due to its fiery appearance, NASA called it a “molten ring.”
The space agency said: “In this case, the light from the background galaxy was distorted in the curve we see by the gravity of the group of galaxies placed in front of it.
“The almost exact alignment of the background galaxy with the central elliptical galaxy of the cluster, seen in the middle of this image, distorted and magnified the image of the background galaxy in an almost perfect ring.
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JWST is so powerful that it can provide insight into the early universe, just 0.3 billion years after the Big Bang, until visible light itself began to form.
JWST will also play a major role in alien hunting.
This is because the telescope has the ability to scan thousands of planets for extraterrestrial life, looking for biosignatures in a planet’s atmosphere.
NASA said: “The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called the JWST or Webb) is an orbiting infrared observer that will complement and expand the findings of the Hubble Space Telescope, with longer wavelength coverage and much improved sensitivity.
“Longer wavelengths allow Webb to look much closer to the beginning of time and hunt the unnoticed formation of the first galaxies, as well as look inside the dust clouds where stars and planetary systems form today.”