【】

Look closely at this image, and you might think you're seeing triple.

A new James Webb Space Telescope photo showcases three copies of the same galaxy cluster hosting a supernova, the brightest and most violent type of space explosion known.

Prime Day deals you can shop right now

Products available for purchase here through affiliate links are selected by our merchandising team. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission.

• iRobot Roomba Combo i3+ Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum and Mop—$329.99(List Price $599.99)

• Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+ 10.9" 64GB Wi-Fi Tablet—$178.99(List Price $219.99)

• Apple AirPods Pro 2nd Gen With MagSafe USB-C Charging Case—$199.00(List Price $249.00)

• Eero 6 Dual-Band Mesh Wi-Fi 6 System (Router + 2 Extenders)—$149.99(List Price $199.99)

• Apple Watch Series 9 (GPS, 41mm, Midnight, S/M, Sports Band)—$299.00(List Price $399.00)

The cosmic triplets aren't artifacts of a defective telescope but a quirk of nature called "gravitational lensing," something predicted in Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity over a century ago.

SEE ALSO:A mistake on the Webb telescope just led to a surprising discovery

Tweet may have been deleted

How does gravitational lensing work?

Gravitational lensing happens when a celestial object has such a massive gravitational pull that it warps the time and space around it. NASA often uses the analogy of a bowling ball placed on a foam mattress or trampoline to illustrate how the fabric of spacetime bends. Light that would otherwise travel straight curves and gets distorted as it passes through the warped spacetime.

Gravitational lensing even has the potential to replicate objects, the way a funhouse mirror can create multiple irregular images.

In this case, the galaxy cluster RX J2129, located 3.2 billion light-years from Earth in the constellation Aquarius, is acting like a colossal magnifying glass in the sky. This natural phenomenon allows scientists to see even more distant objects in the cosmos, making them appear brighter. The extra prescription strength of a gravitational lens can help extend the view of Webb, the world's most powerful space telescope, to see even earlier galaxies.

Mashable Light SpeedWant more out-of-this world tech, space and science stories?Sign up for Mashable's weekly Light Speed newsletter.By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Thanks for signing up!

Gravitational lensing even has the potential to replicate objects, the way a funhouse mirror can create multiple irregular images.

Astronomers are now adept at spotting the telltale effects of gravitational lensing, but that wasn't always the case. Four decades ago, the concentric arcs of light and stretched celestial objects could be downright confusing. In 1987, an enormous blue arc thought to be hundreds of trillions of miles long was first considered one of the largest objects ever detected in space. The arc was found near the galaxy cluster Abell 370, with another similar object near galaxy cluster 2242-02.

Want more scienceand tech news delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newslettertoday.

Later that year, scientists at Stanford University and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Arizona sorted out that they were, in fact, optical illusions, distorted by Abell 370. The New York Times' published a story about the "bizarre" implication of Einstein's theory, titled "Vast Cosmic Object Downgraded to a Mirage."

---

Related Stories

---

• Hubble catches rare crash of three brilliant galaxies
• How a NASA nuclear rocket engine could unleash the solar system
• A mistake on the Webb telescope just led to a surprising discovery
• Get ready: SpaceX Starship will try to fly again soon
• NASA just found a new type of ancient asteroid loaded with water

What is a 'Type Ia' supernova?

The supernova within the lensed galaxy cluster involves a white dwarf star.Credit: ESA / NASA / CSA / P. Kelly

The supernova featured in the new image was first discovered using the Hubble Space Telescope. During those Hubble observations, researchers suspected it was a faraway example of a so-called Type Ia supernova. Those involve a white dwarf, the dense remnant of a star that can't burn nuclear fuel at its core anymore. The white dwarf then strips stellar material away from a nearby star.

When the feeding star reaches about 1.4 times the mass of the sun, it blows up, no longer able to sustain its weight.

There's a reason scientists are using the Webb telescope, a collaboration of NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency, to revisit it. These supernovas have fairly consistent luminosity, so they make handy measurement tools for astronomers: The distance of a Type Ia supernova from Earth is proportional to how bright or dim it appears.

The supernova's light could help astronomers figure out how much RX J2129 is enhancing background objects. And, in turn, that information about its magnification strength could give researchers a sense of how massive the galaxy cluster is.

TopicsNASA