This image may not be used to state or imply NOAO endorsement of any company or product Gravitational lensing. Optical CCD (charge coupled device) ima

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This image may not be used to state or imply NOAO endorsement of any company or product Gravitational lensing. Optical CCD (charge coupled device) image of a large \luminous arc\" associated with Galaxy Cluster 2242-02. Several theories have been put forward to explain such arcs. Most popular of these is that the arc is part of an Einstein ring: the smeared-out image of a distant galaxy or quasar whose light has been \"lensed\" by the gravity of the cluster of galaxies. Einstein proposed the effect of gravitational lensing in 1936."

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Size: 5010px × 3579px
Photo credit: © NOAO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: 2242-02, arc, astronomy, cluster, cosmology, einstein, galaxy, gc, gravitational, lensing, luminous, ring, science