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Space telescope reveals rare ‘Einstein ring’ phenomenon with startling clarity

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Astronomers with the European Space Agency’s Euclid mission captured an unprecedented look at a rare cosmic phenomenon.

They made the observations purely by happenstance.

Einstein rings occur when light from a distant galaxy bends to form a glowing ring around another object in the foreground as that object is being observed.

The rare phenomenon is named for mathematician and physicist Albert Einstein .

Astronomers are interested in studying Einstein rings because they can be used to investigate dark energy as well as dark matter.

While dark matter has never been detected, it is believed to make up 85% of the total matter in the universe.

The size of the Einstein ring only depends on the total amount of mass near the center of the galaxy.