James Webb Telescope Image Reveals Warped Galaxies Through Gravitational Lensing
A September 29, 2026, image from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope shows galaxies appearing warped and magnified, illustrating the effect of gravitational lensing caused by the massive galaxy cluster MACS J0454.1-0300.
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According to NASA News Releases, an image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope was made public on September 29, 2026, which depicts galaxies that appear distorted and magnified, resembling a house of mirrors.
The bright golden galaxies visible in the image are components of a galaxy cluster designated MACS J0454.1-0300. However, the orange galaxies clustered on one side of the picture are not members of that cluster. Instead, they are galaxies situated much further away whose light has been bent and amplified by gravitational lensing.
This effect, known as gravitational lensing, happens when the substantial mass of an object in the foreground, such as a galaxy cluster, bends and magnifies the light originating from a more distant object in the background.
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