Black Hole Gravitational Lensing (IMAGE)

University of California - Berkeley

Black Hole Gravitational Lensing

Caption

A supernova (bright spot at lower left) and its host galaxy (upper center), as they would appear if gravitationally lensed by an intervening black hole (center). The gravitational field of the black hole distorts and magnifies the image and makes both the galaxy and the supernova shine brighter. Gravitationally magnified supernovas would occur rather frequently if black holes were the dominant form of matter in the universe. The lack of such findings can be used to set limits on the mass and abundance of black holes.

Credit

Miguel Zumalacárregui image, UC Berkeley

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