Space Sparks Episode 5: Gravitational Lensing

This Space Sparks Episode explores the concept of gravitational lensing.

This effect is only visible in rare cases and only the best telescopes — including the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope — can observe the results of gravitational lensing. The strong gravity of a massive object, such as a cluster of galaxies, warps the surrounding space, and light from distant objects travelling through that warped space is curved away from its straight-line path.

This video will highlight how Hubble's sensitivity and high resolution allows it to see details in these faint, distorted images of distant galaxies.