Gravitational Lensing in the Galaxy Cluster Abell 2218
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NASA / A. Fruchter / STScI
Gravitational Lenses - Nature's Telescope
The possibility that light could be bent by gravity was predicted by
Albert Einstein. This was seen soon after he
predicted it. People normally think of glass or plastic lenses as
bending light. So we call any object that bends light rays using gravity a
"gravitational lens."
In the cluster Abell 2218 (pictured here), distant blue galaxies behind the large
cluster of galaxies are "squished" into a circular shape around the
middle of the foreground cluster. This is from gravitational lensing.
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