Galaxy clusters are not only mind bending - they also bend space-time, as detected in this image by Hubble Space Telescope.

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is the first-ever picture of a distant quasar lensed into five images (lower center). The group of five quasar images produced in a process called Gravitational Lensing, in which the gravitational field of a massive object - in this case, a cluster of galaxies - bends and amplifies light from an object - in this case, a quasar - farther behind it.

Although other multiply lensed quasars have been seen before, for instance in the object known as the "Einstein Cross", this newly observed "quintuple quasar" is the only case so far in which multiple quasar images are produced by an entire galaxy cluster acting as a gravitational lens.

The background quasar is the brilliant core of a galaxy. It is powered by a black hole, which is devouring gas and dust and creating a gusher of light in the process. When the quasar's light passes through the gravity field of the galaxy cluster that lies between us and the quasar, the light is bent by the space-warping gravity field in such a way that five separate images of the object are produced surrounding the cluster's center. The fifth quasar image is embedded to the right of the core of the central galaxy in the cluster. The cluster also creates a cobweb of images of other distant galaxies gravitationally lensed into arcs.

The galaxy cluster creating the lens is known as SDSS J1004+4112 and was discovered as part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. It is one of the more distant clusters known (seven billion light-years, redshift z=0.68), and is seen when the Universe was half its present age.

Gravitational lensing occurs for extremely concentrated masses like the cores of galaxies or galaxy clusters. Their strong gravity warps the surrounding space, and light travelling through that warped space bends its direction. Multiple images of a distant light source may be seen, each taking a different path through the warped space.

A gravitational lens will always produce an odd number of lensed images, but one image is usually very weak and embedded deep within the light of the lensing object itself. Though previous observations of SDSS J1004+4112 have revealed four of the images of this system, Hubble's sharp vision and the high magnification of this gravitational lens combine to place a fifth image far enough from the core of the central imaging galaxy to make it visible as well.

The distance to the galaxy cluster gravitational lens is roughly 7 billion light-years. The distance to the quasar being lensed is roughly 10 billion light-years. The distance to the farthest galaxy being lensed into an arc is 12 billion light-years.

Location: Leo Minor

Image credits: NASA/ESA/Hubble

Processing and copyright: Leo Shatz

Sources:

[1] https://spacetelescope.org/news/heic0606

[2] https://hubblesite.org/image/1931/category/18-gravitational-lensing

[3] https://spacetelescope.org/videos/heic0606b