Rare Gravitational Lensing 'Flower' Captured in Deep Space, Defying Einstein's Prediction

Astronomers using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) have captured an image of a distant galaxy surrounded by four light-blue "petals," forming an Einstein Cross. The central galaxy acts as a gravitational lens, bending and magnifying light from a hidden galaxy behind it, creating duplicate images. The foreground galaxy splits the light from the background galaxy into four smudges of blue light, revealing clues about galaxy formation in the early universe. The observations were made using the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on the VLT.