Decades ago, Albert Einstein predicted gravitational lenses as part of his theory of general relativity. Another physicist at the time predicted that if the Earth and the gravitational lens, as well as a distant object, were lined up just right, we’d see a halo, ring, or mirror of that object. Einstein said we’d never observe it directly. However, the ESO’s Very Large Telescope has now captured evidence of an “Einstein Cross.”
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Like the Einstein Ring, an Einstein Cross happens when the gravitational lensing, the object we’re observing, and our point of view line up exactly right. Unlike a ring, though, an Einstein Cross showcases the mirroring as if we’re looking at multiple objects all around each other. In reality, the object is mirrored 4 times.
This is a fascinating phenomenon. Einstein said that it would be impossible to see this because the galaxies that we wanted to study were not aligned in an exact way. Further, the possibility of a telescope being powerful enough to look that far out into space was unheard of at the time.
The “flower with four petals,” as the European Southern Observatory refers to it, is at the center of a new paper released in The Astrophysical Journal Letters this month. The paper is written by astronomer Aleksandar Cikota, who along with his team confirms the Einstien Cross’ existence using the Very Large Telescope.
The light from these galaxies is estimated to date back to 11 billion years ago, making these galaxies very distant. The galaxy is actually so distant that the Very Large Telescope needs gravitational lenses to see it. The new paper contains more information about the Einstein Cross.
It is crazy to believe that Einstein, who has been so important to the way we understand our universe and its laws, could be wrong. It seems absurd to us. But this discovery simply showcases how important it is to prove theories and why theorization is such an important part of how we learn about our universe.
The post Scientists observed an incredible phenomenon Einstein said we’d never see appeared first on BGR.
