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Astronomy and spaceflightFri 23 Oct 2026 · 14 of 14

Hubble captures gravitational lens image ahead of Roman telescope observations

Verified · 6/6 supported1 cited · 1 min read

nasa.gov reports that NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured a gravitational‑lens image as preparation for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope . nasa.gov reports that the image features a foreground elliptical galaxy about 4.5 billion light‑years away acting as the lens . nasa.gov reports that the background galaxy, about eight billion light‑years distant, appears as a pair of arcs behind the foreground galaxy . nasa.gov reports that gravitational lensing occurs when the mass of a foreground object warps spacetime, bending and magnifying light from a more distant source . nasa.gov reports that a sweeping barred spiral galaxy is also visible, with the lens located in the lower‑right corner of the image .

Why it matters. nasa.gov reports that the image helps ready the scientific community for observations with the Roman Space Telescope by demonstrating lensing phenomena the mission will study .

Earlier on Astronomy and spaceflight

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