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Gravitational Lens Candidates
This collection of images shows 28 gravitational lens candidates. Astronomers studied these photos, which were taken by the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys, and identified which of the candidates were gravitational lenses. These candidates were selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Gravitational lensing occurs when the gravitational field from a massive object warps space and deflects light from a distant object behind it. The reddish-white objects in the center of each image are massive galaxies. The blue arc-like patterns around many of the galaxies are the smeared light from distant galaxies that are behind the massive galaxies.
About the Object
- DimensionsDimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.Each image is 8 arcseconds wide.
About the Data
- Data DescriptionData DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.The Hubble image was created from HST data from proposal 10174. Members of the SLACS team include: A. Bolton (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA), S. Burles (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), L. Koopmans (Kapteyn Astronomical Institute), T. Treu (University of California - Santa Barbara), and L. Moustakas (Jet Propulsion Lab/Caltech). - InstrumentInstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.HST>ACS/WFC
- FiltersFiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.F435W (B) and F814W (I)
- Object DescriptionObject DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.SLACS Gravitational Lens Candidates
- Release DateNovember 17, 2005
- Science ReleaseHubble, Sloan Quadruple Number of Known Optical Einstein Rings
- Credit
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.
Blue: F435W (B) Orange: F814W (I)
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The thin blue bull's-eye patterns in these eight Hubble Space Telescope images appear like neon signs floating over reddish-white blobs. The blobs are giant elliptical galaxies roughly 2 to 4 billion light-years away. The bull's-eye patterns are created as the light from...
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Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
Media
Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
