Webb brings cosmic lenses into focus Nature’s magnifying glass 🔎

Galaxies in these images might look stretched or warped. That’s due to gravitational lensing, a tool that allows us to peer even further into the universe!

Gravitational lensing occurs because the gravity of massive objects like galaxies and galaxy clusters can warp the fabric of spacetime, bending the path of light around the object. When a massive foreground object lines up with a background galaxy, the light from the background galaxy bends on its way to our telescopes.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasawebbtelescope/54822781985/in/album-72177720323168468