Hubble's new 'molten Einstein ring' image prompts new research
India TV NewsThe Hubble Space Telescope, an international cooperation between NASA and the ESA, in December 2020 released a photo a striking example of a deep-space optical phenomenon dubbed an "Einstein ring". Using the picture, astronomers measured the galaxy's distance, 9.4 billion light-years, when the universe was less than half its present age, placing the galaxy at the peak epoch of star formation in cosmic evolution. "The detection of molecular gas, of which new stars are born, allowed us to calculate the precise redshift and thus gives us confidence that we are truly looking at a very distant galaxy," said Nikolaus Sulzenauer, PhD student at the Max Plank Institute for Radio Astronomy in Germany, in a statement. Furthermore, the team determined the galaxy's magnification factor to be 20, which effectively makes the Hubble Space Telescope's observing capability equivalent to that of a 48-metre telescope.
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