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Microlensing Event at OGLE-2013-BLG-0341 (Hubble Image)

A field of stars, which are blue, white, and orange. A small region between the center and the right of the frame is outlined with a square box. Above it is a pullout of the outlined region, labeled “OGLE-2013-BLG-0341.” The pullout shows two fuzzy red orbs that are very close together, each of which are stars. One of the stars is labeled “lens”, while the other is labeled “background star.”

A follow-up observation by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows a field containing a microlensing event that was captured by the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) in 2013. This provides an example of how a Hubble image could be used to analyze future microlensing events spotted by NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

In gravitational microlensing, the gravity of a foreground object acts as a lens, magnifying and distorting the light of a background star when the two objects align in the sky.

About the Object

  • R.A. Position
    R.A. PositionRight ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
    17:52:07.49 
  • Dec. Position
    Dec. PositionDeclination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
    -29:50:46.0
  • Constellation
    ConstellationOne of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
    Sagittarius
  • Distance
    DistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
    The center of our galaxy is about 26,000 light-years away
  • Dimensions
    DimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
    This image is 1.3 arcminutes across.

About the Data

  • Data Description
    Data 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.

    These images were created with Hubble data from proposal: 17776 (S. Terry).

  • Instrument
    InstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.
    WFC3/UVIS
  • Exposure Dates
    Exposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
    29 March 2025
  • Filters
    FiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.
    F606W, F814W
  • Object Name
    Object NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
    OGLE-2013-BLG-0341
  • Object Description
    Object DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.
    Microlensed Exoplanet, Hubble Galactic Bulge Survey
  • Release Date
    May 11, 2026
  • Science Release
    Hubble Survey Sets Up Roman’s Future Look Near Milky Way’s Center
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Image: NASA, ESA, Sean Terry (UMD), Jay Anderson (STScI); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)

Downloads

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    jpg (2.19 MB)
A field of stars, which are blue, white, and orange. A small region between the center and the right of the frame is outlined with a square box. Above it is a pullout of the outlined region, labeled “OGLE-2013-BLG-0341.” The pullout shows two fuzzy red orbs that are very close together, each of which are stars. One of the stars is labeled “lens”, while the other is labeled “background star.”
Color Info
Color InfoA brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.

<p>These images were acquired by the <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/observatory/design/wide-field-camera-3/">Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3/UVIS)</a> instrument on NASA's <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/mission/hubble/">Hubble Space Telescope</a>. Several filters were used to sample varying wavelength ranges. The color results from assigning different hues (colors) to each monochromatic (grayscale) image associated with an individual filter. In this case, the assigned colors are:</p> <p>Cyan: F606W and Orange: F814W</p>

Related Images & Videos

An observation (labeled u201cVISTA V V V Survey, Near-infrared) of the Milky Wayu2019s center pointing toward its supermassive black hole, which is labeled Sagittarius A* (pronounced u201cA staru201d). At 7 ou2019clock from center is a small region, outlined with 5 fields of view from the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope that are stacked together in a horizontal rectangle. This region is about a third of the image in length and a fifth of the image in width. Within that same region are diagonal lines that alternate between orange and blue. A legend at the bottom left shows two Hubble instruments. One of them, marked with an orange diamond, is labeled u201cW F C 3 / U V I S.u201d The other, marked with a blue diamond, is labeled u201cA C S / W F C.u201d The background is a field of stars, gas, and dust that appear grey, except the center third that runs from the left to the right of the frame, which is composed of brown filaments of dust and gas. The tiny region surrounding Sagittarius A star appears orange.

Hubble/Roman Galactic Bulge Survey Region (VISTA VVV Survey)

This VISTA VVV Survey image shows the galactic bulge near Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way’s center. A region planned for observation by NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is outlined. This area has been observed by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.

A graphic showing the process of microlensing with three columns indicating different times. Against a star-filled background, a distant yellow background star appears at top of the graphic, while a small red foreground star passes in front of it from left to right in the middle of the graphic. Three panels progress from u201cBefore Lensingu201d to u201cDuring Lensingu201d to u201cAfter Lensing.u201d As the foreground star aligns with the background star in the middle panel, white curved lines show the bending of the background staru2019s light by gravity. Two diverging lines converge again to indicate a magnification of the staru2019s light. Three boxes show the image captured by the Hubble telescope (left) and Roman telescope (middle, right). Underneath these panels is a bell curve (y-axis reads u201cApparent Brightness of the Background Staru201d, x-axis reads u201cTimeu201d). Its lowest points (at left and right) and highest point (middle) connect to the three boxes by a dotted white line.

Microlensing Infographic

This graphic illustrates a microlensing event, which occurs when the light from a distant object warps as a mass, such as a foreground star, precisely aligns in front of that object. This causes the more distant background star to increase in apparent brightness.

The video begins with a title card that says, u201cZoom Into The Milky Wayu2019s Galactic Bulge: Hubble and Roman Survey Regionsu201d laid over a view of the Milky Way from the 2MASS, an all-sky survey taken in near-infrared wavelengths. The video zooms into the center of this survey before transitioning to the VISTA VVV Survey, a survey of the Milky Wayu2019s galactic bulge. At the zoomu2019s deepest point, Sagittarius A star is labeled with a star icon. Several diagonal lines appear, alternating from orange to blue across a small area to the bottom left of the frameu2019s center. This region is outlined with 5 fields of view from the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope that are stacked together in a horizontal rectangle. At the bottom left is a legend, which shows two Hubble instruments. One of them, marked with an orange diamond, is labeled u201cW F C 3 / U V I S.u201d The other, marked with a blue diamond, is labeled u201cA C S / W F C.u201d

Zoom Into the Milky Way's Galactic Bulge - Hubble/Roman Survey Regions

This video shows a zoom into the Milky Way’s galactic bulge near the galactic center. As it zooms in, the view changes from the near-infrared 2MASS survey to the VISTA VVV survey (both ground-based).

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Details

Last Updated
May 11, 2026
Location
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Contact
Media

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

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