Gravity Lens (RCS2 032727-1326230) (Greg Allegretti)

Gravity Lens (RCS2 032727-1326230)

Reaching deep:

A gravitational lens refers to a distribution of matter (such as a group of galaxies) between a distant source and an observer. The intervening matter distorts space-time, bending the light from the source, as it travels toward the observer. The result is an apparent halo or partial halo. This is effect is predicted by Einstein's General Theory of Relativity.

The phenomenon is seen in this image of a remote galaxy cluster (RCS2 032727-1326230). A blue-colored streak of light partially surrounds the orange-colored group of intervening galaxies. The blue arc is the "lensed" image of a yet more distant galaxy. The intervening cluster is at a distance of about 5-billion light years. The lensed galaxy lies at 10 billion light years.

The target is challenging but rewarding. At about 1 arc minute in size and estimated magnitude 18 to 19, it tests the limits of amateur equipment. The photo was captured under high desert skies near Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA with a telescope of 12" aperture at f/8 and an electrically-cooled CCD camera. Subs were taken over a period of more than a year. Total exposure (LRGB) was 9.5 hours.

Please note: The following tables are updated every 24 hours.

Distribution of astrophotographers

This table shows the number of distinct astrophotographers who have been assigned and IOTD/TP award compared to the total number of images awarded.
	Distinct awarded users	Total awarded images
Image of the day
Top picks
Top pick nominations

Distribution of subject types

This table shows the distribution of awards per subject type, compared to the popularity of images of that subject type.
	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Deep sky
Solar system
Extremely wide field
Star trails
Northern lights
Noctilucent clouds
Landscape

Distribution of data sources

This table shows the distribution of awards per data source, compared to the popularity of images acquired from that data source.
	Image of the day	Top pick	Top pick nominations	Total submitted
Backyard
Traveller
Own remote observatory
Amateur hosting facility
Public amaeteur data
Professional, scientific grade data
Mix of multiple sources
Other
Unknown

The “AstroBin Image of the Day and Top Picks”, or IOTD/TP, is a long-running system to promote beautiful, interesting, peculiar, or otherwise amazing astrophotographs, with a focus on technical excellence. Learn more.

Submitted The date and time when you submitted this image for IOTD/TP consideration.	...
Views by Submitters (available since September 19th, 2023) Every image is assigned to 50% of available Submitters. In the event that at least 80% of them don't view the image before its time in the IOTD/TP process expires, it's assigned to the other 50% of Submitters and the process begins anew.
Promotions by Submitters When 3 distinct Submitters promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for Top Pick status. This requirement, in addition to anonymization of images and distribution to only a subset of them, prevents biases and ensures that the best images are selected.
Promotions by Reviewers When 3 distinct Reviewers promote the image, it moves on to the next stage of the process: evaluation for IOTD status.
Early dismissal Staff members have a lot of images to inspect on a daily basis, and they can dismiss images if they believe they don't meet the requirements for IOTD/TP selection. If an image is dismissed 5 times, it's removed from the process. This streamlines the process and ensures that any bias present in promotions could be overruled by other staff members.

Status	Basic failed
Started	...
Astrometry.net job	1581912
PixInsight job	n/a
PixInsight queue size	n/a
PixInsight stage	n/a

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