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Part of Hall of the Universe.
AMNH/D. Finnin
General relativity describes how space is curved by mass. Around high concentrations of mass, the curvature of space becomes strong enough to make space behave like a lens.
Some clusters of galaxies act as gravitational lenses, magnifying and distorting the images of background galaxies.
An ordinary view of galaxies is transformed …
… just as if we were looking at it through a piece of curved glass.