Black Holes and Dark Revelations: Gravitational Waves Provide New Clues to the Composition of Dark Matter
A population of massive black holes whose origin is one of the biggest mysteries in modern astronomy has been detected by the LIGO and Virgo…
Gravitational Lensing News
Gravitational lensing is a phenomenon that occurs when the gravitational field of a massive object, like a galaxy or a black hole, bends the path of light passing near it. This effect is a powerful demonstration of Einstein’s theory of general relativity, which predicts that mass curves the fabric of space-time, influencing the movement of light and objects. Gravitational lensing can magnify and distort the images of distant galaxies or stars seen from Earth, allowing astronomers to observe objects that are otherwise too faint or too distant to be seen by current technology. This phenomenon not only helps in mapping the distribution of dark matter (which does not emit light and is thus invisible through conventional means) but also in studying the properties of distant galaxies, detecting exoplanets, and testing aspects of general relativity. The ability to observe gravitational lensing effects has become a crucial tool in cosmology and astrophysics for understanding the structure and evolution of the universe.
Revising Relativity: How Modified Gravity Challenges Einstein and Dark Matter
Groundbreaking new research reveals that rotation curves of galaxies stay flat indefinitely far out, corroborating predictions of modified gravity theory as an alternative to dark…
Unlocking Astronomical Mysteries: Researchers Develop New Code for Observing Cosmic Birefringence
Future missions will be able to more accurately detect signs of parity-symmetry violation in the cosmic microwave background polarization, thanks to the efforts of two…
Through a Gravity Lens: Astronomers Capture Bizarre “Extremely Warped” Supernova
Astronomers have captured a bizarre image of a supernova, a powerful star explosion, with its light so distorted by the gravity of another galaxy that…
Unraveling Cosmic Mysteries – New Method Proposed for Measuring Universe Expansion
In 1929, astronomers discovered that galaxies are streaming away from us and each other. They interpreted this observation that the universe is expanding. However, when…
Gravitational Lensing and Quasars: New Method Measures Galaxy Mass 3 Times More Precisely
A group of scientists from EPFL have discovered a method to utilize the phenomenon of strong gravitational lensing, achieving a precision approximately three times superior…
Quadruple Take: Unlocking Dark Matter Mysteries With Multiply-Imaged Gravitationally Lensed Supernova
Physicists and astronomers have discovered a multiply-imaged lensed Type Ia supernova, “SN Zwicky,” enabling unprecedented study of galaxy properties, gravitational lensing phenomena, dark matter, and…
Webb Space Telescope Discovers Complex Organic Molecules in Galaxy More Than 12 Billion Light-Years Away
The James Webb Space Telescope has facilitated the discovery of complex organic molecules in a distant galaxy, marking the furthest known occurrence of these molecules…
Einstein’s Theory in Action: Supernova Explosion Revealed by Rare “Cosmic Magnifying Glasses”
Researchers gain insight into how the universe is expanding thanks to gravitational lensing, a natural phenomenon that warps space around galaxies and visually magnifies celestial…
Cosmic Smoke Signals: James Webb Telescope Discovers Organic Molecules in Distant Galaxy
Astronomers have found complex organic molecules in a galaxy more than 12 billion light-years away from Earth. Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, an international…
Cosmic Leviathan: Hubble Unveils an Exceptionally Massive Galaxy Cluster
This Hubble Space Telescope image reveals a massive galaxy cluster, eMACS J1823.1+7822, located nine billion light-years away in the constellation Draco. Gravitational lensing caused by…
Dark Mysteries of the Cosmos: Unraveling the Secrets of an Invisible Galaxy
A mysterious and very distant object, in a universe as it was ‘just’ two billion years after the Big Bang, that hides from even the…
Gravity’s Cosmic Spotlight: Unveiling a Monstrous 30-Billion-Solar-Mass Black Hole Through Light-Bending Phenomenon
Taking advantage of a phenomenon called gravitational lensing, a team of astronomers has discovered one of the biggest black holes ever found. Light-bending gravity The…
What Is Gravitational Lensing?
Looking Through a Giant Magnifying Glass When taken to the extreme, gravity can create some intriguing visual effects that the Hubble Space Telescope is well…
Gravitational Lenses: Spyglasses Into the Universe
Light does not always travel in straight lines. As Einstein predicted in his Theory of General Relativity, massive objects will deform the fabric of space…
New Discoveries Could Reveal the Nature of Dark Matter
The dozens of newly identified gravitational lenses could also reveal ancient galaxies. Earlier this year, a machine learning algorithm detected up to 5,000 possible gravitational…
NASA Scientists Probe Dark Energy – Time To Rework Albert Einstein’s Theory of Gravity?
Could one of the biggest puzzles in astrophysics be solved by reworking Albert Einstein’s theory of gravity? Not yet, according to a new study co-authored…
Astronomy & Astrophysics 101: Gravitational Lensing
What Is Gravitational Lensing? Gravitational lensing occurs when a massive celestial body — such as a galaxy cluster — causes a sufficient curvature of spacetime…