WASHINGTON: Astronomers have viewed four versions of a supernova. It was all happen as the gravity of a cluster of galaxies magnified and bent the light of exploding star that created multiple images.
Although multiple likenesses have been created by light-deflecting galaxies and active black holes before, so many versions of one supernova have never been produced by the optical effect.
The researchers, who published their discovery in the journal Science, said the effect was first described by Albert Einstein in his theory of relativity.
The star that the scientist observed exploded some nine billion light years from Earth, and the mass of the cluster of galaxies in front of the star was so great it deformed space and time, while deflecting light, to produce the four images.
“I was so excited when I spotted the four images around the galaxy. It was a complete surprise,” said Patrick Kelly, of the University of California, Berkeley, who made the discovery during routine observations.
Astronomers have been searching for a similar cosmic setup for 20 years.
Albert Einstein was the first scientist to predict the phenomenon which creates the multiple images, the authors said.
