The "Einstein Zigzag" has been discovered in space for the first time, offering new insights into the secrets of the universe (photo).

According to Einstein's theory of relativity, extremely massive objects can distort the light from other objects in space, creating a gravitational lens. Now, scientists have discovered a double gravitational lens for the first time, marking a significant breakthrough in the study of the Universe. The research has been published on the preprint server arXiv, reports IFLScience.

Initially, astronomers considered the galaxy J1721+8842 to be a typical gravitational lens that amplifies and distorts the light from a quasar, which is a bright galactic core located 10.5 billion light-years away from us. However, it turns out that this is the first zigzag-shaped double gravitational lens ever observed.

Gravitational lenses are defined as very massive objects, such as galaxies and galaxy clusters, that distort and amplify the light from more distant objects due to their gravity. The existence of gravitational lenses was first announced by Albert Einstein in 1912. With the help of gravitational lensing, astronomers can detect extremely distant objects that would otherwise go unnoticed, as the light source is too far away and not powerful enough to be captured by modern telescopes.

While all gravitational lenses hold significant scientific value, the galaxy J1721+8842 has become an example of a revolutionary lens. The light from a very distant quasar passed through this gravitational lens, allowing astronomers to see six images of the light source simultaneously using the James Webb Space Telescope. This phenomenon is unique, as it was previously believed to occur only with two gravitational lenses, meaning two galaxies aligned along the path of light from the original source.

Scientists have determined that the first gravitational lens is located 300 million light-years from the quasar, or 10.2 million light-years from us. The light from the quasar is initially amplified by this galaxy, resulting in two images due to the light traveling in different directions. The second gravitational lens is located 2.3 billion light-years away from us, where the light is further distorted, leading to the creation of six images.

Moreover, as astronomers discovered, the light from the quasar travels in a zigzag pattern to the first massive galaxy and then to the second. The second gravitational lens amplifies the light from the first. Thus, according to the scientists, they have discovered a double gravitational lens for the first time that produces six images of the same distant object. This is the first zigzag gravitational lens of Einstein observed in history. The researchers estimate the chances of discovering such a gravitational lens to be about one in 100 million.

The unusual nature of this object, according to astronomers, can be utilized to address one of the main mysteries of the Universe, concerning the conflicting estimates of the rate of cosmic expansion. This rate, known as the Hubble constant, shows varying values when measured using different methods.