Back Gravitasielens Afrikaans عدسة الجاذبية Arabic Lente gravitacional AST Гравітацыйная лінза Byelorussian Гравитационна леща Bulgarian মহাকর্ষীয় পরকলা Bengali/Bangla Ferenn c'hravitadurel Breton Lent gravitatòria Catalan Gravitační čočka Czech Гравитацилле линза CV
Gravitational lensing is caused by a massive body between a distant object and ourselves. It can create the appearance of two or more objects where there is really only one. The light from the object gets bent round the massive body in between.
The massive body, such as a galaxy or black hole, creates a very strong gravitational field in space. The exact nature of the effect depends on:
- relative distance and position between observer, lens and lightsource
- size of the lens
- mass inside the lens