The European Space Agency ( ESA)’sEuclid Missionhas been work over the last 18 months to understand what drab matter and dark vigour really are . These are portion of the universe whose being is justify by observations and models , but we do not cognise what they really are . This quest is execute by Euclid , with over-the-top observations that fork out unusual hooey – like an extraordinary Einstein ring .
An Einstein gang is a gravitational lens phenomenon due to the almost perfect alinement between a remote galaxy and a dense foreground object , in this case , an elliptical galaxy called NGC 6505 . NGC 6505 is around 590 million light - years from us . Its enormous gravity warps blank - clip and so the light of a screen background galaxy 4.42 billion light - years away is warped into a ring .
“ An Einstein band is an representative of strong gravitational lensing , ” lead author Conor O’Riordan , of the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics , said in astatement . “ All strong lenses are special , because they ’re so uncommon , and they ’re incredibly useful scientifically . This one is particularly special , because it ’s so close to Earth and the alignment make it very beautiful . ”
The Einstein ring was distinguish serendipitously and it came from one of the earliest scientific discipline images compile by the telescope in September 2023 , just workweek after its launch . Those observation were by choice out of centering ( and a glitch actually createdsome beautiful images ) but researchers were capable to see what they were blot out right away .
“ I look at the data from Euclid as it come in , ” explained Euclid Archive Scientist Bruno Altieri . “ Even from that first observation , I could see it , but after Euclid made more observations of the area , we could see a perfect Einstein ring . For me , with a lifelong interest in gravitational lensing , that was amazing . ”
potent gravitational lens , per se , are not the way that Euclid is endeavor to unravel the whodunit of dark matter and glum energy , but they are splendid research lab to test those hypotheses and Einstein ’s theory of relativity to the limit . Finding more of them is important , and it is even more rum to find one in a galaxy that has been known for over 140 years .
“ I find it very intriguing that this band was observe within a well - known galaxy , which was first discover in 1884 , ” articulate Valeria Pettorino , ESA Euclid Project Scientist . “ The galaxy has been known to astronomers for a very farseeing metre . And yet this halo was never observed before . This show how hefty Euclid is , finding raw thing even in lieu we thought we knew well . This discovery is very encouraging for the future of the Euclid mission and exhibit its terrific capabilities . "
A paper describing the observations is published in the journalAstronomy & Astrophysics .
