Tag Archive for 'Quasar microlensing'

X-ray image of the gravitational lens system SDSS J1004+4112 taken by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory; the central red extended emission is from the hot gas in the foreground lens galaxy cluster and the four blue point sources are the lensed images of the background quasar. Image credit: University of Oklahoma.

Free-Floating Planet-Mass Objects are Common in Galaxies

Dec 13, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using a technique called quasar microlensing, a team of astronomers at the University of Oklahoma has detected populations of free-floating planet-mass...

Dai et al used Chandra to measure the spin of five quasars. Gravitational lensing of the light from each of these black holes by an intervening galaxy has created multiple images of each quasar, as shown by these Chandra images of four of the targets. Image credit: NASA / CXC / University of Oklahoma / Dai et al.

Chandra Uses Gravitational Lens to Capture Spinning Black Holes

Jul 5, 2019 by News Staff

By combining the capability of NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory with the power of a natural phenomenon called gravitational lensing, a team of astronomers...

Image of the gravitational lens RX J1131-1231, with the foreground elliptical galaxy at the center and four images of the lensed quasar. It is estimated that there are trillions of planets in the lens galaxy. Image credit: University of Oklahoma.

Astronomers Claim to Find Population of Rogue Exoplanets in Distant Galaxy

Feb 2, 2018 by News Staff

Using a quasar microlensing technique, astronomers claim to have found a large population of unbound planets — with masses ranging from Moon to Jupiter...