The James Webb Space Telescope has captured an image of an almost perfect “Einstein ring.” The ring of light in the new image comes from the distant galaxy SPT-S J041839-4751.8 (or JO418 for short), which is around 12 billion light-years from Earth, making it one of the oldest galaxies in the universe.
Key Points
- An Einstein ring is a ring of light created when light from a galaxy, star or other light-emitting cosmic objects passes near a massive object before it reaches the Earth, or in this case, the Webb telescope.
- When this happens, gravitational lensing causes the light to get diverted and if the source, lens and the observing element are all in perfect alignment, this light appears as a ring.
