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Back How the shape of a gravitational lens effects the lensed images

How the shape of a gravitational lens effects the lensed images


Depicts: Gravitational lenses
Copyright: ESA 2001

Gravitational lenses produce different shaped images depending on the shape of the lensing body. If the lens is spherical then the image appears as an Einstein ring (in other words as a ring of light) (top); if the lens is elongated then the image is an Einstein cross (it appears split into four distinct images) (middle), and if the lens is a galaxy cluster then arcs and arclets (banana-shaped images) of light are formed (bottom).
Last Update: 1 September 2019
20-Apr-2026 13:08 UT

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