The European Space Agency's (ESA) Euclid mission has discovered a "perfect" Einstein ring in the galaxy NGC 6505, located 590 million light-years from Earth. This rare phenomenon was formed by the light of a more distant galaxy, 4.42 billion light-years away, distorted by gravity. Einstein rings, predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, occur when massive objects bend light, creating a gravitational lens effect. These rings are crucial for studying the universe's expansion, dark matter, and gravity.
The Euclid space telescope, designed to investigate dark matter and dark energy, identified the ring using its high-resolution instruments. While NGC 6505 had been studied before, the ring remained unseen until Euclid's observations. Scientists highlight the ring's scientific importance and its proximity to Earth, making it a unique discovery. The findings were published in Astronomy & Astrophysics.