gravitational lens

American  

noun

Astronomy.

1. a heavy, dense body, as a galaxy, that lies along our line of sight to a more distant object, as a quasar, and whose gravitational field refracts the light of that object, splitting it into multiple images as seen from the earth.

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gravitational lens British  

noun

1. astronomy a lenslike effect in which light rays are bent when passing through the gravitational field of such massive objects as galaxies or black holes

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gravitational lens Scientific  

1. A massive celestial object, such as a galaxy, whose gravity can act as a lens that functions to bend and focus the light of a more distant object. This results in a magnified, distorted, or multiple image of the original light source for a distant observer.

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Etymology

Origin of gravitational lens

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

The newly found object is so small that its presence appeared only as a tiny "pinch" in the distorted image created by a much larger gravitational lens -- something like a subtle flaw in a funhouse mirror.

From Science Daily

The researchers noted that, alongside the gravitational lens, JWST's powerful infrared instruments should be able to detect galaxies at an even further distance, if they exist.

From Science Daily

As per the “waffle” hypothesis, adding a second gravitational lens to the models that better simulate the thickness of the galaxy cluster should resolve the problem of ghost clumps, Wagner says, although “one would need to set up a new way of lens modeling” to really confirm it.

From Scientific American

The remaining 90 percent exists in halos of an invisible substance called dark matter—halos so massive that the cluster bends nearby spacetime to act as a giant magnifying glass, which astronomers call a gravitational lens.

From Scientific American

Other scientists agree current dark matter models—many of which simulate a gravitational lens as a flat, two-dimensional object—are prone to human errors and inevitably rely on guesswork.

From Scientific American