Double Einstein Ring Spotted

"Hubble finds double Einstein ring [heic0803]" (January 10, 2008)

An Einstein ring is what we see when light from a very distant object, like a galaxy, passes by something with a lot of mass on its way to us. Gravity of the nearer object bends the light, so (ideally) we see a ring where the object should be.

Aside from being a good astronomy-news photo op, this double ring is a bonanza of data for cosmologists and astronomers.