An international space telescope mission that is currently mapping the dark Universe has discovered a rare ‘Einstein Ring’ in a galaxy not far away.
Scientists from Durham University’s Department of Physics are among the founders of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Euclid telescope project, which is mapping out the structure of the Universe across more than a third of the sky.
The telescope is currently in space, capturing incredibly detailed images of the Universe to further our understanding of how it has expanded and formed over its cosmic history.
And scientists analysing some of the first Euclid images have made a fascinating discovery – an Einstein Ring in a galaxy called NGC 6505.
An Einstein Ring is a rare phenomenon that occurs when a ring of light that forms when a massive object, like a galaxy cluster, bends light from a distant galaxy.
