The light from a distant blue background light is distorted into a thin horseshoe encircling a luminous red galaxy at center

Cosmology

Astronomers Discover 562 New Candidate Strong Lenses With Machine Learning

An international research collaboration trained computers to sift through millions of images for cosmic treasure.

Galaxies

Distorted Galaxy Hints at the Nature of Dark Matter

Astronomers analyzed the gravitationally lensed image of a distant galaxy to test the nature of dark matter.

Molten Ring

Galaxies

60-second Astro News: Magnified Galaxies Provide Window to Early Universe

Astronomers use cosmic magnifying lenses to peer into the universe's distant past.

two colorful radio gets stream out either side of a central, invisible point

Galaxies

From Starving Black Holes to Warped Galaxies

Hot topics from the American Astronomical Society summer meeting range from colliding galaxies, to warped galaxies, to starving black holes.

Dark matter: Theory vs. Observed

Galaxies

Hubble Images Reveal Dark Matter Problem

Astronomers studying Hubble Space Telescope images of massive galaxy clusters have uncovered a potential problem with dark matter.

KIDS survey

Cosmology

Our Unexpectedly Smooth Universe May Point to New Physics

The latest data release from a survey of 31 million galaxies reveals that our universe is even smoother than we thought it was.

Galaxies

Incredible Resolution: Reconstructed Galaxy Pushes Hubble’s Limits

Thanks to the effects of gravitational lensing, a team of astronomers was able to reconstruct a distant galaxy and study its unexpectedly clumpy star forming regions.

Supernova Einstein Cross

Cosmology

Cosmic Lens Provides Unique View of Supernova

Astronomers have discovered a gravitationally lensed Type Ia supernova that will soon give them a new measure of the universe’s expansion.

KIDS Dark Matter Map

Cosmology

Not-So-Clumpy Dark Matter Poses Cosmological Challenge

Astronomers analyzing a new sky survey have found that the distribution of dark matter in the modern universe is smoother than predicted from observations of a far younger universe.

Galaxies

Students Discover a Galactic Eye of Horus

Undergraduate students in Japan stumbled upon a rare lensing of two distinct background galaxies.

Stellar Science

Mysteriously Bright Supernova Explained

In 2010, a mysteriously bright supernova appeared, later sparking a debate within the astronomy community. But new images of the now-faded supernova reveal an intervening — and until now invisible — cosmic lens, which magnified its light.