Space Science About Space ScienceESA's 'Cosmic Vision'Science & Technology in-depthMultimedia Science imagesScience videosAnimationsDownloadsSounds from spaceMedia centre Press ReleasesPress kitsESA TelevisionResources Reference sectionGlossaryFAQs Science missions Services HelpLegal disclaimerCommentsSubscribeFollow us  RSS feeds ESA Sci on Twitter
|  | | | | | | Hubble discovers 67 gravitationally-lensed galaxies in the distant universe
19 February 2008
| This video zooms into a gravitational lens named 0038+4133, an Einstein ring. An Einstein ring is a complete circular image of a background galaxy, which forms when the galaxy in the background, another massive galaxy in the foreground and the viewer, this case, the Hubble Space Telescope, are all aligned perfectly.
Credits: ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen) | |  |  | |
| | | | | This image shows six of 67 gravitational lenses found in the COSMOS survey. The objects were discovered in a recently-completed, large set of observations as part of a project to survey a single 1.6-square-degree field of sky (nine times the area of the full Moon) with several space-based and Earth-based observatories.
Gravitational lensing is a phenomena where light travelling towards us from a distant galaxy is magnified and distorted as it encounters a massive object on its path. These gravitational lenses often allow astronomers to peer much farther back into the early universe than normally possible.
The COSMOS project, led by Nick Scoville at the California Institute of Technology used observations from several observatories including the Hubble Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, the XMM-Newton spacecraft, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Very Large Telescope (VLT), and the Subaru Telescope. In total 67 gravitational lenses were found.
Credits: NASA/ ESA/ Zentrum für Astronomie, University of Heidelberg (C. Faure)/ Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille (J.P. Kneib) | | | | |
| | | | | The positions of 67 newly-found gravitational lenses are shown in this video.
Credits: ESA/Hubble (M. Kornmesser & L. L. Christensen) | | | | |
| | | | | An Einstein ring can be seen in the object 0038+4133, marked in a red circle in this image. An Einstein ring is a complete circular image of a background galaxy, seen when the background galaxy, a massive foreground galaxy, and the viewer, in this case the Hubble Space Telescope, are all aligned perfectly.
This lens is one of the diverse 67 gravitational lenses found in the COSMOS survey. The lenses were discovered in a recently completed large set of observations as part of a project to survey a single 1.6-square-degree field of sky (nine times the area of the full Moon) with several space-based and Earth-based observatories.
Gravitational lensing is a phenomena where light travelling towards us from a distant galaxy is magnified and distorted as it encounters a massive object on its path. These gravitational lenses often allow astronomers to peer much farther back into the early universe than normally possible.
Credits: NASA/ ESA/ Zentrum für Astronomie, University of Heidelberg (C. Faure)/ Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille (J.P. Kneib) | | | | |
| | | | | An Einstein ring can be seen in this image from the COSMOS project. An Einstein ring is a complete circular image of a background galaxy, seen when the background galaxy, a massive foreground galaxy, and the viewer, in this case the Hubble Space Telescope, are all aligned perfectly.
This lens is one of the diverse 67 gravitational lenses found in the COSMOS survey. The lenses were discovered in a recently completed large set of observations as part of a project to survey a single 1.6-square-degree field of sky (nine times the area of the full Moon) with several space-based and Earth-based observatories.
Gravitational lensing is a phenomena where light travelling towards us from a distant galaxy is magnified and distorted as it encounters a massive object on its path. These gravitational lenses often allow astronomers to peer much farther back into the early universe than normally possible.
Credits: NASA/ ESA/ Zentrum für Astronomie, University of Heidelberg (C. Faure)/ Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille (J.P. Kneib) | | | | |
| | | | | This lens is one of the diverse 67 gravitational lenses found in the COSMOS survey. The lenses were discovered in a recently completed large set of observations as part of a project to survey a single 1.6-square-degree field of sky (nine times the area of the full Moon) with several space-based and Earth-based observatories.
Gravitational lensing is a phenomena where light travelling towards us from a distant galaxy is magnified and distorted as it encounters a massive object on its path. These gravitational lenses often allow astronomers to peer much farther back into the early universe than normally possible.
This colour image has been put together from data obtained by the Canada France Hawaii Telescope, and sharpened with images taken by the Hubble Advanced Camera for Surveys.
Credits: NASA/ ESA/ Zentrum für Astronomie, University of Heidelberg (C. Faure)/ Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille (J.P. Kneib) | | | | |
| | | | | An Einstein ring can be seen in this image of the gravitational lens 5921+0638 from the COSMOS survey. An Einstein ring is a complete circular image of a background galaxy, seen when the background galaxy, a massive foreground galaxy, and the viewer, in this case the Hubble Space Telescope, are all aligned perfectly.
This lens is one of the diverse 67 gravitational lenses found in the COSMOS survey. The lenses were discovered in a recently completed large set of observations as part of a project to survey a single 1.6-square-degree field of sky (nine times the area of the full Moon) with several space-based and Earth-based observatories.
Gravitational lensing is a phenomena where light travelling towards us from a distant galaxy is magnified and distorted as it encounters a massive object on its path. These gravitational lenses often allow astronomers to peer much farther back into the early universe than normally possible.
This image, originally in greyscale, taken by the Hubble Advanced Camera for Surveys was updated with information in colour from the ground-based Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope.
Credits: NASA/ ESA/ Zentrum für Astronomie, University of Heidelberg (C. Faure)/ Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille (J.P. Kneib) | | | | |
| |
| | More about... Hubble overview Hubblecast Related articles Hubble: One of the youngest and brightest galaxies foundGargantuan galaxy NGC 1132 - a cosmic fossil?Hubble finds double Einstein ring, and other resultsHubble - graceful dance of interacting galaxiesExtreme star cluster in new Hubble imagesHubble and Spitzer find 'Lego-block' galaxies in early UniverseHubble uncovers the Veil NebulaStellar fireworks through Hubble’s eyesHubble sees dark matter ring in a galaxy clusterHubble sees multiple star generations in a globular cluster Hubble rescue storySpectacular star birth pictures on Hubble’s 17th birthday
|
MP4 (Size: 
HI-RES JPEG (Size: 
HI-RES JPEG (Size: 
HI-RES JPEG (Size: 
HI-RES JPEG (Size: 
HI-RES JPEG (Size: