Distorting the lens

Thursday, February 9, 2012 - 08:31 in Astronomy & Space

(PhysOrg.com) -- One of the most bizarre predictions of Einstein's Theory of General Relativity is the existence of back holes, objects that are so dense that not even light can escape from their gravitational grasp. A related prediction of General Relativity is that the path light travels can be bent by the presence of mass, so that matter can sometimes act like a lens - a so called "gravitational lens" - and produce distortions in images of background objects seen behind it. During the now famous total eclipse of 29 May 1919, scientists confirmed these basic predictions of Einstein's theory by observing starlight bent by the gravity of the Sun.

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