'Cosmic Seahorse' Photo Captures Spacetime Distortion by Gravity

The James Webb Space Telescope captured an image of the Cosmic Seahorse galaxy using a gravitational lens created by a galaxy cluster in the foreground. Gravitational lensing magnifies distant galaxies, warping their shapes and creating bright smears of light. Astronomers can study objects that would typically be too far away to see under normal conditions. The photo was captured as part of Webb’s ongoing use to study the formation of new stars in distant galaxies.