Each day we feature a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Sometimes it takes a keen eye to see a good mirage. Each smudge is actually a different image of the same background quasar . The central galaxy happens to fall directly in the light path of the quasar . Consequently, the huge mass of the galaxy is able to pull separate images of the quasar around it - an effect called gravitational lensing .
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