The ring sits in the galaxy NGC 6505, which is about 590 million light-years from Earth.
It is formed by the fortuitous distortion of light by gravitational fields as that light travels across the universe.
The teams description of the ring ispublishedinAstronomy and Astrophysics.
The Einstein ring Euclid saw.Image: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre, T. Li
This one is particularly special, because its so close to Earth and the alignment makes it very beautiful.
But gravitational lenses can also warp light that passes through them, often into smooshed lines or arcs.
An Einstein ring is a rare gravitational lens where light is warped into a complete ring.
The ring against the sky. Image; ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre, T. Li
In May 2024, the Euclid teamreleased additional imagestaken with just 24 hours of Euclid observations.
News from the future, delivered to your present.
Are We Inside a Black Hole?
What Shape Is the Universe?
The options become even more complicated if you consider time as a dimension.
