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Gravitational Lens Forms Giant Arc

This illustration shows how an image of a background galaxy is distorted and magnified by the gravitational field of a foreground galaxy. In this alignment gravity acts as a lens in space by warping space like a funhouse mirror. The image of a distant galaxy is stretched into a giant arc.
- Release DateFebruary 2, 2012
- Science ReleaseHubble Zooms in on a Magnified Galaxy
- Credit
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Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
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Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov