Einstein's 'Impossible'

Experiment

AN EINSTEINIAN
IMPOSSIBILITY
Einstein ring: Gravitational lensing at the
level of galaxies

Figure 1: Photograph in the visible and infrared by the Hubble Space

Telescope around a bright red galaxy LRG 3-757. Image Credit:
ESA/Hubble & NASA
 Lensshoe" or The Cosmic Horseshoe".

Figure 2: When the space around a star is bent because of its gravitational field,
light coming from galaxies, (or other starts) behind it will get smeared as it passes
through this turbulence in space created by the star (or galaxy).
What is Gravitational Lensing?
Circles (Einstein rings) like this are a product of a
concept called gravitational lensing.

Normal lenses such as the ones in a pair of glasses

work by bending light rays via refraction, in order to
focus the light in your eye.

Gravitational lensing works in an analogous way and

is an effect of Einstein's theory of general relativity
i.e. , mass bends light.
What actually bends is space-time, not
space
The distortion of the images -- appearance observed
about light-- looks like it has been distorted by a
magnifying glass. Yet the effect on light between normal
lensing and gravitational lensing is produced by two
different events.

Events 1- Refraction is an effect on light when it

passes through one transparent medium or one
transparent matter to another transparent
medium/matter.
The Optical Illusion of Gravitational Lensing

Event 2- Gravitational lensing- the deflection is again

an effect on light but rather than being produced by
light passing through a transparent
medium/matter, gravitational lensing is created by light
passing near an object -- an object exerting
gravitational force on light.
Normal Lensing vs. Gravitational Lensing

Figure 3: A ray of light refracted by a plastic block.

The Optical Illusion of Gravitational Lensing

Figure 4 (Image: NASA/ESA): Gravitational lensing happens on all scales

the gravitational field of galaxies and clusters of galaxies can lens light.
Notice how a gravitational lens works

Figure 5: Image via Herschel ATLAS Gravitational Lenses. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Understanding 'Einstein Rings'
When a star in the foreground passes directly
between us and a background star, gravitational
microlensing results in a perfectly circular ring of
light - 'Einstein ring.

Figure 6: Illustration by NASA, ESA, and A. Field (STScl)

 COSMIC FIREFLY
Astronomers have measured the mass of a star by
observing the way its mass deforms light passing by it.

Figure 7: The white dwarf Stein 2051 B, and the background star, visible as a small dot, that
allowed its mass to be measured. (Credit: NASA, ESA, and K. Sahu (STScI))
Cosmic Firefly: Measuring Mass With Light
Astronomers have measured the mass of white dwarf 2051 B by
observing the manner its mass bends light passing by it.

Imagine a firefly moving from one side of a U.S. quarter to the

other side. You have to detect this movement from 1,500 miles
away-- Kailash Sahu of the Space Telescope Science Institute
Proving Einstein Wrong by Proving Him
Right

Figure 8: Artists depiction of a white dwarf (right) in orbit around a white giant star.
(Image: NASA, ESA and G. Bacon (STScI))
Proving Einstein Wrong by Proving Him
Right
In an article published in Science in 1936, Einstein
predicted this effect would happen based on his general
theory of relativity, he went on to argue that stars should
bend the light that passes by them like a lens would.
However, Einstein then claimed astronomers had no
hope of actually seeing this effect.

Of course, there is no hope of observing this

phenomenon directly. Albert Einstein
 Conclusion
Stein 2051Bs gravity curved and displaced the stellar
fireflys light

Dr. Sahu and his team, by measuring the apparent shift in

light, were able to calculate the white dwarfs mass.

Gravitational lensing works in a similar way and is an effect

of Einstein's theory of general relativity i.e. , mass bends
light.

Einsteins key prediction --astrometric microlensing-- has

passed a very rigorous observational test.
 Conclusion
The research solves a long-standing problem about the
mass and composition of Stein 2051 B.

Sahu's team nicely confirms astrophysicist

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar's 1930 Nobel Prize-
winning theory about the relationship between the
mass and radius of white dwarf stars.

This novel tool for determining masses will be very

important as huge new surveys uncover many other
chance alignments over the next few years.
 References
1. Figure 1 (Image Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA): Einstein Ring.
http://hyperphysics.phyastr.gsu.edu/hbase/Astro/einring.html

2. Figure 2 (Credit Hubble & NASA The Cosmic Horseshoe): Einstein

Ring. http://hyperphysics.phyastr.gsu.edu/hbase/Astro/einring.html

3. Figure 3 (Normal Optical Lensing): The Resplendent Inflexibility of

the Rainbow. https://www.universetoday.com/121584/the-
resplendent-inflexibility-of-the-rainbow/

4. Figure 4 (Image Credit: NASA/ESA) What is Gravitational Lensing?

http://www.cfhtlens.org/public/what-gravitational-lensing

5. Figure 5 (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech): Herschel-ATLAS

Gravitational Lenses. http://herschel.cf.ac.uk/results/herschel-atlas-
gravitational-lenses
 References
6. Figure 6 (Hubble Space Telescope Illustration): Hubble measures
deflection of starlight by a foreground Object.
https://www.spacetelescope.org/images/potw1724c/

7. Figure 7 (Credits: NASA, ESA, and K. Sahu (STScI)): Hubble Astronomers

Develop a New Use for a Century-Old Relativity Experiment to Measure a
White Dwarfs Mass. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2017/hubble-
astronomers-develop-a-new-use-for-a-century-old-relativity-experiment

8. Figure 8 (Credit: NASA, ESA and G. Bacon (STScI): The Canis Major
Constellation. https://www.universetoday.com/19780/canis-major-
constellation/