Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Einstein Ring
Why in the News?
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Euclid Space Telescope has captured a rare Einstein Ring around a galaxy nearly 590 million light-years away from Earth.
What is an Einstein Ring?
- An Einstein Ring is a circular ring of light caused by gravitational lensing, a phenomenon predicted by Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity.
- It occurs when a massive celestial object (like a galaxy) bends and magnifies light from a more distant background galaxy that lies directly behind it.
- The recent discovery by ESA’s Euclid telescope identified an Einstein Ring around NGC 6505, located 590 million light-years away, acting as a lens for a distant galaxy 4.42 billion light-years away.
- Features of an Einstein Ring:
- Perfect circular shape (only if source, lens, and observer align precisely).
- Example of strong gravitational lensing, distorting background light.
- Extremely rare (found in less than 1% of galaxies).
- Not visible to the naked eye, observed only with advanced space telescopes like Euclid or Hubble.
Significance of the Discovery:
- Reveals Dark Matter: Helps indirectly map dark matter, which makes up 85% of the universe.
- Magnifies Hidden Galaxies: Makes faint, distant galaxies visible for study.
- Measures Universe’s Expansion: Tracks how light stretches over time, refining cosmological models.
- Confirms Einstein’s Theory: Proves light bends in curved space-time, supporting gravitational lensing theory.
- Demonstrates Euclid’s Capabilities: Shows Euclid’s high-resolution potential, promising more discoveries.
PYQ:[2018] Consider the following phenomena:
Which of the above is/are the prediction/predictions of Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, often discussed in media? (a) 1 and 2 only |
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