gravitational lens

English

Noun

gravitational lens (plural gravitational lenses)

1. (astronomy) A distribution of matter whose gravitational field bends the path of light rays sufficiently to distort, magnify or multiply images of more distant objects.
   • 1981, Ido Kansokujo, editor, Publications of the International Latitude Observatory of Mizusawa, Volumes 15-20, page 27:

     Thus the galactic gravitational lens effect is not important in maintaining the radio reference coordinate system with mas accuracy, if quasars as fiduciary points are pertinently selected.

   • 1987, McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology, Volume 8, McGraw-Hill, unnumbered page:

     The two other examples of gravitational lenses discussed above have not been modeled as elaborately.

   • 1999 August, Guillermo A. Lemarchand, Karen J. Meech, editors, Bioastronomy '99: A New Era in Bioastronomy, Proceedings, Astronomical Society of the Pacific, page 575:

     Subsequent discoveries of several more examples of gravitational lenses eliminated all doubts about gravitational focussing predicted by general relativity.

Related terms

• gravitational lensing
• gravitational microlensing

Translations

astronomy: body whose gravitational field bends light rays

• Esperanto: gravita lenso
• Finnish: painovoimalinssi
• French: lentille gravitationnelle (fr) f, macrolentille f, mirage gravitationnel (fr) m
• German: Gravitationslinse (de) f
• Italian: lente gravitazionale f
• Romanian: lentilă gravitațională f
• Tagalog: dagsining paningob

See also

• Einstein ring

Further reading

• Strong gravitational lensing on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Weak gravitational lensing on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Gravitational lensing formalism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia