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Hubble Finds Double Einstein Ring
Einstein Duble brings us news that astronomers using the Hubble Telescope have discovered an extremely rare double Einstein Ring. Occasionally, galaxies or other bright objects are located in such a way that they are behind another galaxy when viewed from Earth. When light from the further galaxy passes a sufficiently massive closer galaxy, the path of the light is bent inward from all sides, creating a "ring" effect. In this case, not one, but two galaxies are directly behind the foreground galaxy, so the gravitational lens produces two distinct rings. Quoting Presscue:
"The distribution of dark matter in the foreground galaxies that is warping space to create the gravitational lens can be precisely mapped. In addition, the geometry of the two Einstein rings allowed the team to measure the mass of the middle galaxy precisely to be a value of 1 billion solar masses. The team reports that this is the first measurement of the mass of a dwarf galaxy at cosmological distance (redshift of z=0.6)."
Any slit experiment is fine with me!
/. for this vulgar, disgusting attempt at humor. Please don't knee me in the nuts. :))
(I am so sorry to the one woman on
"The fight for freedom has only just begun." - Geert Wilders
Hi AC, thanks for the lovely reply. It made my day all bright and happy like a shiny farthing found under a night-soil cart.
Everything's peachy keen now and lovely-jubbly. Or something like that. Apparently I'm upper-crust English or some-such, and must use their inane rhyming rhubarb to talk like some babbling idiot out far too long in the midday sun (well, it's just mad dogs and us Englishmen, eh?). Well... toodle-oo and all that, eh what? Chocs away and I'm off for scones and high tea with the Queen!