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gravitational lens

noun

, Astronomy.
  1. a heavy, dense body, as a galaxy, that lies along our line of sight to a more distant object, as a quasar, and whose gravitational field refracts the light of that object, splitting it into multiple images as seen from the earth.


gravitational lens

noun

  1. astronomy a lenslike effect in which light rays are bent when passing through the gravitational field of such massive objects as galaxies or black holes
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


gravitational lens

  1. A massive celestial object, such as a galaxy, whose gravity can act as a lens that functions to bend and focus the light of a more distant object. This results in a magnified, distorted, or multiple image of the original light source for a distant observer.


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Word History and Origins

Origin of gravitational lens1

First recorded in 1975–80
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Example Sentences

Some of the light from that explosion later encountered a gravitational lens, a cluster of galaxies whose gravity bent the light so that we see multiple images.

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gravitational interactiongravitational mass