Mirrored Galactic Image

By Harley White posted 08-10-2022 08:01

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Mirrored Galactic Image

A galaxy lensed with a prolix name
shows as three within the frame,
the third distorted in center of view
like bridge twixt the other two.

The Hubble Space Telescope it’s been said
as to distance overhead
has revolutionized gravity’s quirk
of showing large what might lurk

off yonder in background, thus permit peek
through a magnified technique
at heavenly objects, too far away
to be seen as lensing may

in shape and in structure, the Hubble’s flair,
or to resolve details where
what had been spotted was only a blur.
Hubble was first to confer

the gift of powering mortals to peer
deep in outer spatial sphere
henceforward to open a cosmic door
into worlds of evermore…

My psyche to stellar heights might be flung
letting senses fly among
celestial realms which the images gave
me, merely an earthbound slave.

As I would meander ‘midst stars on high
the hours scurried swiftly by,
through Hubble’s surveillance brought eye to eye
with wonders to versify.

So though the James Webb is talk of the town
these days as scope of renown,
the Hubble still plays a paramount part
especially in my heart.

~ Harley White

* * * * * * * * *

A source of inspiration was the following…

Image and info ~ Lens Flair…
https://esahubble.org/images/potw2229a/

Image explanation: This intriguing observation from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shows a gravitationally lensed galaxy with the long-winded identification SGAS J143845+145407. Gravitational lensing has resulted in a mirror image of the galaxy at the center of this image, creating a captivating centerpiece.

Gravitational lensing occurs when a massive celestial body — such as a galaxy cluster — causes a sufficient curvature of spacetime for the path of light around it to be visibly bent, as if by a lens. Appropriately, the body causing the light to curve is called a gravitational lens, and the distorted background object is referred to as being “lensed”. Gravitational lensing can result in multiple images of the original galaxy, as seen in this image… Another important consequence of this lensing distortion is magnification, allowing astronomers to observe objects that would otherwise be too far away or too faint to be seen.

Hubble has a special flair for detecting lensed galaxies. The telescope’s sensitivity and crystal-clear vision allow it to see faint and distant gravitational lenses that cannot be detected with ground-based telescopes because of the blurring effect of Earth’s atmosphere. Hubble was the first telescope to resolve details within lensed images of galaxies, and is capable of imaging both their shape and internal structure.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Rigby

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