Appearance of LS1

This video shows the galaxy cluster MACS J1149.5+223. Thanks to a lucky alignment between the cluster, a dense object within it and a distant star, the image of the distant star was magnified by a factor of 2000, making it visible by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.

Like the galaxy in which the star is located, the star is actually visible several times. However, the light from the second image of the star was redirected by another massive object in the cluster and only became visible when this object moved out of the line of sight.

The video shows the position of the two images of the star within the cluster.