The European Space Agency's (ESA) Euclid telescope has captured a stunning example of an Einstein ring, a rare phenomenon predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity. The ring of light surrounds the galaxy NGC 6505, located 590 million light-years away.
The ring is formed by the gravitational lensing effect, where the gravity of a massive object, in this case, NGC 6505, bends and magnifies the light from a distant galaxy behind it. This alignment creates a nearly perfect ring of light around the foreground galaxy.
The distant galaxy, located 4.42 billion light-years away, was previously unknown and has not yet been named. The discovery highlights the power of gravitational lensing as a tool for observing distant and otherwise hidden objects in the universe.
The Euclid mission, launched in July 2023, aims to create a 3D map of the universe by observing billions of galaxies. This early discovery of an Einstein ring demonstrates the telescope's capabilities for uncovering hidden secrets in the cosmos.