A small image of a galaxy distorted by gravitational lensing into a dim ring. At the top of the ring are three very bright spots with diffraction spikes coming out of them, right next to each other: these are copies of a single quasar in a lensed galaxy, duplicated by gravitational lensing. At the center of the ring, the lensing elliptical galaxy appears as a small blue dot. The background is black and empty. Acknowledgments: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, A. Nierenberg
This new image of the moon from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope shows the gravitational lensing of a quasar known as RX J1131-1231, located about six billion light-years from Earth in the constellation Craters.
It is considered one of the best lensed quasars discovered to date, as the foreground galaxy blurs the image of the background quasar into a bright arc, creating four images of the object.
Gravitational lensing, first predicted by Einstein, offers a rare opportunity to study regions close to a black hole in distant quasars by acting as a natural telescope and magnifying the light from these sources. All matter in the universe deforms the space around it, with larger masses creating a stronger effect.
Around very massive objects such as galaxies, light that passes close follows this warped space and appears to bend from its original path by a clearly visible amount. One consequence of gravitational lensing is that it can magnify distant astronomical objects, allowing astronomers to study objects that would otherwise be too faint or distant.
Measuring the X-ray emission from quasars can provide an indication of how fast the central black hole is spinning, and this gives researchers an important clue about how black holes grow over time.
For example, if a black hole grows primarily from collisions and mergers between galaxies, it should accumulate material in a stable disc, and a steady supply of new material from the disc should lead to a rapidly rotating black hole. On the other hand, if the black hole grew through many small accretion episodes, it would accumulate material from random directions.
Observations showed that the black hole in this particular quasar was rotating at more than half the speed of light, suggesting that the black hole grew by merging rather than by attracting material from different directions.
This image was taken by Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) as part of the Dark Matter Observing Program. Dark matter is an invisible form of matter that makes up most of the matter in the universe. Webb’s observations of quasars allow astronomers to probe the nature of dark matter on smaller scales than ever before.
Provided by the European Space Agency
Citation: Webb Admires the Bejeweled Ring of Lensed Quasar RX J1131-1231 (2024 July 5) Retrieved July 5, 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2024-07-webb-bejeweled-lensed-quasar-rx.html
This document is subject to copyright. Except for any bona fide act for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without written permission. The content is provided for informational purposes only.