Hubble Space Telescope's glamour shots of the universe are so revealing they nearly always have a discovery behind them.
In this particular snapshot, a science discovery followed the release of a Hubble observation of a striking example of a deep-space optical phenomenon dubbed an "Einstein ring." The photo was released in December 2020 as an example of one of the largest, nearly complete Einstein rings ever seen.
In this image, a remote galaxy is greatly magnified and distorted by the effects of gravitationally warped space. After its public release, astronomers used the picture to measure the galaxy's distance of 9.4 billion light-years. This places the galaxy at the peak epoch of star formation in cosmic evolution.
The extremely high rate of star formation in the brightest and very dusty early galaxies saw stars being born at a rate a thousand times faster than occurs within our own galaxy. This could help explain the rapid build-up of present day giant elliptical galaxies.
This object's unusual partial ring-like appearance can be explained by a phenomenon called gravitational lensing, which causes light shining from a faraway galaxy to be warped by the gravity of an object between its source and the observer. This effect was first theorized by Albert Einstein in 1912, and later worked into his theory of general relativity.
In this case, the galaxy's light has also been magnified by a factor of 20. This magnification, boosted by mother nature, effectively made Hubble's observing capability equivalent to that of a 48-meter-aperture telescope. The lensing effects also create multiple apparitions around the curved arc of the single background magnified galaxy.
In order to derive the physical properties of the galaxy, astronomers had to precisely model the effects of the lensing on the galaxy's image. "Such a model could only be obtained with the Hubble imaging," explained the lead investigator Anastasio DĂaz-Sánchez of the Universidad PolitĂ©cnica de Cartagena in Spain. "In particular, Hubble helped us to identify the four duplicated images and the stellar clumps of the lensed galaxy."
The initial Hubble observation was first conducted by Saurabh Jha of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. His team's science goal was to use Hubble's sharp image to reveal detailed complex structure in the ring arcs.
The object, GAL-CLUS-022058s, is located in the southern hemisphere constellation of Fornax (the Furnace). The image was nicknamed the "Molten Ring" by Jha, which alludes to its appearance and host constellation.
Credits
Author
Anastasio DĂaz-Sánchez (Universidad PolitĂ©cnica de Cartagena)
Image
Saurabh Jha (Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)
Acknowledgment
Leo Shatz
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | "Molten Ring" Galaxy, GAL-CLUS-022058s, PKS 0218-387 |
| Object Description | Gravitationally lensed galaxy |
| R.A. Position | 02:20:57.59 |
| Dec. Position | -38:33:04.27 |
| Constellation | Fornax |
| Dimensions | Image is 2.34 arcmin across |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | The HST observations include those from program (S. Jha) |
| Instrument | WFC3/UVIS, WFC3/IR |
| Exposure Dates | 15 May 2015 |
| Filters | F555W, F775W, F160W |
| About The Image | |
| Color Info | These images are a composite of separate exposures acquired by the WFC3 instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. Several filters were used to sample narrow wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are: Blue: F555W Green: F555W + F755W Red: F775W + F160W |
| Compass Image |  |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
