Incredible Hubble image shows a gravitationally lensed galaxy

This breathtaking image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows a gravitationally lensed galaxy with the long-winded identification SGAS J143845+145407.

Gravitational lensing occurs when a massive celestial body, like a cluster of galaxies, causes a sufficient curvature of spacetime for the path of light around it to be visibly bent, as if by a lens. Appropriately, the body causing the light to curve is called a gravitational lens, and the distorted background object is referred to as being lensed.

Astronomers can use the phenomenon as a natural magnifying glass, allowing them to inspect objects that would otherwise be too far away or too faint to be seen.

In this Hubble image of SGAS J143845+145407, gravitational lensing has created a captivating centrepiece: a mirror image of the galaxy at the centre.

Our latest Picture of the Week features a gravitationally lensed galaxy: SGAS J143845+145407. Gravitational lensing has created a captivating centrepiece: a mirror image of the galaxy at the centre of this image.🔗 https://t.co/SnykGfRUvK pic.twitter.com/0PlFGiVt0x

— HUBBLE (@HUBBLE_space) July 18, 2022

The NASA/ESA Hubble was the first telescope to resolve details within lensed images of galaxies, and is capable of imaging both their shape and internal structure.

Sharing this image of a gravitationally lensed galaxy, the European Space Agency (ESA) wrote, "Hubble has a special flair for detecting lensed galaxies. The telescope's sensitivity and crystal-clear vision allow it to see faint and distant gravitational lenses that cannot be detected with ground-based telescopes because of the blurring effect of Earth's atmosphere."

This lensed galaxy is from a set of Hubble observations that take advantage of gravitational lensing to peer inside galaxies in the early Universe. The lensing reveals details of distant galaxies that would otherwise be unobtainable, and this allows astronomers to determine star formation in early galaxies.