Einstein Cross

The Einstein Cross or Q2237+030 or QSO 2237+0305 is a gravitationally lensed quasar that sits directly behind ZW 2237+030, Huchra's Lens. Four images of the same distant quasar appear around a foreground galaxy due to strong gravitational lensing.

The quasar is located about 8 billion light years from Earth, while the lensing galaxy is located at a distance of 400 million light years. The apparent dimension of this galaxy is 0.87x0.34 arcminutes, while the apparent dimension of the cross in its center accounts for only 1.6x1.6 arcseconds.

The Einstein Cross can be found in Pegasus at 22h40m30.3s +3d21m31s.

The individual images are labelled A through D (i.e. QSO 2237+0305 A), the lensing galaxy is sometimes referred to as QSO 2237+0305 G.

Famous quotes containing the words einstein and/or cross:

    If my theory of relativity is proven correct, Germany will claim me as a German and France will declare that I am a citizen of the world. Should my theory prove untrue, France will say that I am a German and Germany will declare that I am a Jew.
    —Albert Einstein (1879–1955)

    Flood-tide below me! I see you face to face!
    Clouds of the west—sun there half an hour
    high—I see you also face to face.
    Crowds of men and women attired in the usual costumes, how curious you are to me!
    On the ferry-boats the hundreds and hundreds that cross, returning
    home, are more curious to me than you suppose,
    And you that shall cross from shore to shore years hence are more to me, and more in my meditations, than you might suppose.
    Walt Whitman (1819–1892)