is this a gravitational lens?
-
by EleanorD
It seems to have a rainbow around it, but I don't know how to interpret the colours and was not sure what to make of it.
Posted
-
by ElisabethB moderator
No this is no a lens. This is a Hubble star. The colors, rings and spikes are all optical artifacts.
Posted
-
by EleanorD
Okay so it's not a galaxy at all
Posted
-
by ElisabethB moderator
No, it's a foreground star from our galaxy 😃
Posted
-
by EleanorD
How can you tell? A lot of the Hubble images look very like this one, and considering how far Hubble is looking, I would have thought a foreground star would be brighter. Is it the optical artefacts that make it more likely to be a star?
Posted
-
by ElisabethB moderator
Yes, the colors, rings and the spikes (diffraction spikes) just scream star. And remember here are also a lot of faint stars. (and looking at lots and lots of pics helps too ! 😉)
Happy Hunting !Posted