Animation of Gravitational Microlensing

Animation begins outside a globular star cluster similar to M22, with the center of the Milky Way in the distance. The camera flies through the center of the cluster and rests with a dark object in the distance. This object, a suspected brown dwarf, passes in front of a star in the galactic bulge, bending its light gravitationally. This bending, or lensing, causes a momentary brightening of the background star.