Suggested Searches

1 min read

Gravitational Microlensing Resulting from Planetary-Mass Objects in a Globular Cluster

Gravitational Microlensing Resulting from Planetary-Mass Objects in a Globular Cluster
Hubble Space Telescope looks for the small, dim inhabitants of a clobular cluster by studying their effect on the light of distant bakground stars in the galaxy's bulge. The gravity of the intervening objects in the cluster briefly amplifies the background stars' image by bending the light waves, as an optical lens does. The mass of the objects can be inferred by the duration of the lensing event: the longer the brightness lasts, the more massive the objects.
  • Release Date
    June 27, 2001
  • Science Release
    Hint of Planet-Sized Drifters Bewilders Hubble Scientists
  • Credit
    Illustration Credit: Ann Feild (STScI)

Downloads

  • 1141 × 1512
    jpg (973.16 KB)
  • 525 × 700
    jpg (73.03 KB)
  • 200 × 200
    jpg (8.54 KB)

Share

Details

Last Updated
Mar 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov