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Astronomers have taken into account the Euclid Mission at the European Space Agency at an unprecedented look at a rare cosmic phenomenon – and made the notes purely through an event.
Their discovery is linked to some early data from the gym, which It was launched in July 2023 To study the dark universe – the scientists of the universe cannot see it directly – and spent the first few months in calibration and testing its tools. when Photo test He was sent to Earth, the Architectist of Euclism Einstein episode.
Einstein episodes occur when the light bends from a distant galaxy to form a glowing ring around another object in the foreground where that object is observed. Observed episodes of mathematics and physicist Albert Einstein are rarely named. His general theory of relativity expects that light can bend and shine around things across the universe.
Euclid initially acquired a well -subject picture called NGC 6505, which is located about 590 million light -years from Earth, in 2023. Light Does the distance light travel in one year, which is 5.88 trillion mile (9.46 trill kilograms).
But for the first time, a loop of light was revealed around the galaxy while using very sensitive EUCLID tools. The same episode is made of distorted light from a distant galaxy, located 4.42 billion light years. The galaxy, which has not been noticed before, has no name yet.
“I look at the data from Euclid as it comes,” Altieri said in a statement. “Even from that first note, I was able to see it, but after Euclid made more notes about the region, we can see the perfect Einstein episode.”
Now, the researchers have an in -depth study of Euclidean photos that show details of the Einstein episode, which was published on Monday in the magazine Astronomy and astronomical physics. Understanding more about this phenomenon can help scientists investigate some of the constant secrets of the universe, such as dark energy – the mysterious power that causes the universe to expand faster over time.
“I find it very interesting that this episode was observed in a well -known galaxy, which was discovered for the first time in 1884,” said Valeria Betorino, the scientist of the ICSI project in a statement. “The galaxy is known to astronomers for a very long time.
However, this ring has not noticed before. This shows the strength of Euclid, finding new things even in the places that we thought we knew well. This discovery is very encouraging for the future of Euclid’s mission and explains his wonderful capabilities. “
Decoding the Ainstein ring is rare
The American astronomer Luis Swift first noticed the NGC 6505 galaxy in 1884, which looks like a bright yellowish point, with the details of the episode that the atmosphere blocks. Astronomical physics in Germany.
“By observing space with Euclid, where there is no atmosphere to put things out,” Oureredan said in an email.
Orenedan said that Einstein’s rings are examples of a strong gravitational lens, a phenomenon that works like a magnifying cup in the universe, which reveals heavenly things and ablution from remote galaxies that will remain invisible.
He said: “When the light moves from a distant galaxy across space on its way to Earth, it usually travels on a straight path.” “But if there is a huge body like another galaxy on the way, the tremendous gravity in the galaxy can actually bend the appearance of light. This galaxy works in the foreground like” lens “, focusing on the light from the background galaxy to a distorted image on The shape of a distorted but highly enlarged loop of the background.
A close view of the NGC 6505 Galaxy Center shows the bright Einstein episode surrounding it. – Esa/EUCLID/EUCLID CONSORTIUM/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre, G. Anselmi, T. Li
In order to create an Einstein ring, multiple factors must meet: a huge galaxy in the foreground must fully correspond to the background galaxy from the telescope perspective.
Orioardan said it is very rare that less than 1 % of the galaxies have the Einstein episode. He said that there are between 100 and 1000 things that are similar to the Einstein episode known, but only a few of its dozens were noticed at the level of the details provided by the Euclidean telescope.
The authors of the study said that although a distance of 590 million light years appears incredibly far from the Earth, it is close, astronomically, as the authors of the study said, which makes this one of a handful of Einstein’s episodes near our planet.
“The background galaxy is almost almost in this lens with the galaxy, which is already very rare,” said Oureredan. “This is the amazing full loop that you can see in the picture. This rare alignment makes an incredible image and remind us of the beauty of the universe.”
He said that this Einstein’s own episode will assist astronomers mainly on peers inside the unknown distant galaxy so that they can measure its bloc and its composition, the number of stars that produced it and how they evolved over time.
The enlargement of the universe
Astronomers are particularly concerned with studying Einstein’s rings because they can be used to investigate dark energy as well as dark matter. Although the dark matter has never been discovered, it is believed to constitute 85 % of the total issue in the universe.
“This dark issue does not interact with light, but it has the effect of gravity,” said Oureredan. Therefore, the lens of gravity is sensitive to the existence of this dark matter, which allows us to discover it indirectly. For example, the size of Einstein’s ring depends on the amount of mass in the galaxy. When we appreciate the mass based on the number of stars we see (the brightness of the galaxy), we must see Einstein’s rings much smaller in size. Only when we calculate the lost dark matter, we can predict the size of the loop that we already notice. “
Gustin Spielker, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Texas A and M. Spilker did not participate in the new study, but he previously noticed the Einstein episode using the James Web telescope described in a study conducted in June 2023, co -authored by an international team of scientists.
“The size of the Einstein episode only depends on the total amount of the mass near the center of the galaxy,” Siblker said in an email. “It does not matter whether this mass is made up of dark materials, stars or cats – only the total things! In this case, the researchers found that about 90 % of the mass is the stars, and about 10 % of the dark matter (there is no word in breaking in cats , It is a typical matter for the internal areas of galaxies.
Euclid is located on a six -year mission to monitor Bellons of galaxies across more than a third of the sky. The primary goal of the telescope, which is 4 feet length (1.2 meters) is to monitor the dark material and dark energy and the greater and more accurate creation 3D map of the universe. Along the way, the telescope is likely to increase the number of Einstein’s rings with orders by size, Oreyurn said.
“Euclid will revolutionize this field, with all these unprecedented data,” said Orioardan. “We will have more than Einstein’s episodes than we might work with, and this will achieve its new challenges.”
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