Tag Archives: Einstein

Albert Einstein is undeniably one of the greatest names in physics. But Einstein, for all his contributions to the physics of spacetime, was a human being confined to his own time in history. While that makes his predictions all the more impressive, it also means that, at other times, Einstein was either slightly off the mark or—dare I say it—wrong. …

Astronomers have discovered a surprisingly small “dark object” lurking within a distant ring of warped light. The record-breaking find could help shed light on the mysterious identity of dark matter, which would have major implications for the field of cosmology. The hidden object, likely a clump of invisible dark matter, was spotted within B1938+666 — an “Einstein ring” located around …

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, G. Gozaliasl, A. Koekemoer, M. Franco Quick facts What it is: Eight “Einstein rings,” officially known as gravitational lenses Where it is: The deep sky When it was shared: Sept. 30, 2025 As telescopes peer into the universe, …

Quick facts What it is: Eight “Einstein rings,” officially known as gravitational lenses Where it is: The deep sky When it was shared: Sept. 30, 2025 As telescopes peer into the universe, they sometimes see quirks of nature that magnify faraway objects. These eight galaxies recently imaged by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) appear stretched, warped or even bent …

A decade ago, scientists first detected ripples in the fabric of space-time, called gravitational waves, from the collision of two black holes. Now, thanks to improved technology and a bit of luck, a newly detected black hole merger is providing the clearest evidence yet of how black holes work — and, in the process, offering long-sought confirmation of fundamental predictions …

An odd image of a distant galaxy has revealed what might be an enormous blob of dark matter hiding in plain sight. When astronomers first looked at the new image of the galaxy HerS-3, taken by the Northern Extended Millimeter Array radio telescopes in France, they thought there was an error in the data. “We were like, ‘What the heck?'” …

A chance configuration of objects arrayed across deep space has just revealed the hiding place of a giant glob of dark matter. Configurations like these, known as Einstein crosses, typically consist of four distinct points of light. This particular example, named HerS-3, has a feature never seen before. At the center of the cross appears a fifth blob of light. …

In February 2016, scientists at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO) announced the first detection of gravitational waves (GW). These ripples in space time, originally predicted by Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity, are caused by the merger of massive objects (like neutron stars and black holes). Since then, gravitational wave observatories like LIGO, VIRGO, and the Kamioka Gravitational Wave …

A regular Einstein Cross has four objects around 90 degrees from each other. The fifth image appears very close to the central lensing object and is invisible. However, this time it showed up. The discovery was made by Pierre Cox, a French astronomer, Research Director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research and the study’s lead author, who first …

When gravity—an invisible yet ubiquitous force—bends and distorts light from distant galaxies, Earthbound observers get a rare glimpse of elusive cosmic phenomena. And the weirder the glitch, the more insightful the finding, as a team of astronomers recently discovered. These glitches are formally referred to as Einstein Crosses. As light from a distant galaxy travels toward our observatories, the gravitational force …