The European Space Agency’s Euclid telescope has captured a rare Einstein ring encircling the center of a galaxy, adding a touch of color to the galaxy.
In a press release issued on February 10th, the European Space Agency highlighted that in September 2023, the Euclid telescope was still in its testing phase. Archivist Bruno Altieri spotted a very unique sign in a blurry image sent back from the telescope to Earth, prompting further observation.
Altieri expressed his excitement, stating that upon initial observation, he saw something special, but with more scrutiny from the Euclid telescope, a perfect Einstein ring could be seen.
The rare Einstein ring is hidden within a galaxy named NGC 6505, located approximately 590 million light-years away from Earth. Despite the vast cosmic distance, this is the first detection of such a ring encircling the center of a galaxy, made possible by the high-resolution instruments of the Euclid telescope.
Conor O’Riordan from the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Germany and his research team conducted a study on this Einstein ring and authored the first report on it. O’Riordan explained that the Einstein ring is a prime example of strong gravitational lensing effects and is particularly notable due to its proximity to Earth and visually appealing arrangement.
Einstein’s general theory of relativity predicts that light in space would bend around celestial bodies, acting as a massive lens to focus the light. This gravitational lensing effect is more significant for massive celestial bodies like galaxies and galaxy clusters, allowing us to see light from distant galaxies that would otherwise be obscured.
When aligned correctly, light rays from distant galaxies bend and form a spectacular Einstein ring around foreground celestial bodies. These Einstein rings serve as rich laboratories for scientists, aiding in understanding cosmic expansion, detecting the impacts of unseen dark matter and dark energy, as well as studying the background light sources distorted by the dark matter between us and the sources.
Valeria Pettorino, a scientist on the Euclid project, noted that NGC 6505 is a well-known galaxy discovered as early as 1884. Despite astronomers’ long-standing knowledge of this galaxy, the Einstein ring had never been observed before, showcasing the Euclid telescope’s robust capabilities in uncovering new phenomena even in familiar astronomical realms.
By exploring how the universe has expanded and formed throughout its history, the Euclid telescope will unveil more insights into the role of gravity, as well as the nature of dark energy and dark matter. The telescope aims to map over a third of the sky, observing billions of galaxies within a range of 10 billion light-years.
O’Riordan emphasized, “The Euclid telescope will revolutionize this field with unprecedented data at our disposal.”
The Euclid telescope commenced its detailed sky surveys on February 14, 2024, gradually creating the most extensive 3D cosmic map to date. The remarkable findings in the early stages of its mission hint at unraveling more hidden secrets in the universe.
The research results mentioned above were published in the Astronomy and Astrophysics journal on February 10th.