Image courtesy of NASA Space Telescope Science Institute Office of Public Outreach.
As we've said, 20th century physics has been a long trail of vindication for Einstein's theories. We wanted to cover just one more proof, since it produces such cool pictures.
The arcs are images of extremely distant space
stuff, seen in a cluster of closer galaxies. The enormous gravitational field
of the massive, compact cluster deflects light rays passing through it,
much as an optical lens bends light. Here we see stuff that's so distant we
couldn't see it any other way. Here's a full explanation.
In 1936, shortly after Einstein emigrated to the United States to escape
the Nazis, he published a prediction that immense gravitational fields
would bend light much as a lens would. Such a "gravitational lens" was far
beyond the capacity of telescopes of the day, but now they're a useful and
beautiful way to view extremely distant (and therefore old and often odd)
objects.
"As usual, Einstein was ahead of the curve," says Harvard historian of
science Gerald Holton.
Relatively speaking, it's time you told us
how this genius did his thing.
