Supernova from the Universe’s Childhood
A massive galaxy cluster acts as a giant lens. Its gravity warps the fabric of space, and the light of distant objects, bending around this curvature, is amplified and split into multiple images.
A Bright Flash from the Universe's Youth
The hunter of ancient light, the James Webb Telescope, aimed its mirrors at a tiny patch of sky and caught a strange beacon. The object, with the working name beacon_1420-$$5253_{4770}$$, flashed and faded. At first, it was logged as a candidate for the most distant galaxy, as if we were seeing it just 300 million years after the big bang.
A Cosmic Ruler Made of Seventeen Lenses
A lamp is hidden behind a large aquarium filled with water. You see not one light source but several reflections and refractions — the water bends the path of the rays.