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- a perfect Einstein Ring has been found by Euclid
The discovery of a complete Einstein ring around the elliptical galaxy NGC 6505 has been confirmed by researchers using data from the ESA's Euclid telescope, led by Euclid Archive Scientist Bruno Altieri. This significant finding marks the first strong gravitational lens identified by the Euclid mission and the first such lens in an NGC object from any survey. The Einstein ring, characterized by its low redshift of z = 0.042, showcases a bright source galaxy with magnitudes of I_E = 18.1 lensed and I_E = 21.3 unlensed. The research is detailed in the paper published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, Volume 694, February 2025.
PREREQUISITESAstronomers, astrophysics researchers, and students interested in gravitational lensing and the capabilities of the Euclid telescope will benefit from this discussion.
The lens was discovered by Euclid Archive Scientist Bruno Altieri in data from ESA's Euclid telescope. The researchers therefore suggest the nickname "Altieri's lens".
We report the discovery of a complete Einstein ring around the elliptical galaxy NGC 6505, at z = 0.042. This is the first strong gravitational lens discovered in Euclid and the first in an NGC object from any survey. The combination of the low redshift of the lens galaxy, the brightness of the source galaxy (##I_E = 18.1## lensed, ##I_E = 21.3## unlensed), and the completeness of the ring make this an exceptionally rare strong lens, unidentified until its observation by Euclid. We present deep imaging data of the lens from the Euclid Visible Camera (VIS) and Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP) instruments, as well as resolved spectroscopy from the Keck Cosmic Web Imager (KCWI). . . .
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