NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day

NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day


2026 January 04 - The Einstein Cross Gravitational Lens

January 04, 2026

In today's image, we see the gravitational lens known as the Einstein Cross for its distinctive pattern which occurs because a distant quasar is imaged multiple times as its light passes through the gravitational field of the intervening galaxy.


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This Podcast is an authorized New Media Mirror Site for APOD. You can access the image and website directly at: Astronomy Picture of the Day. You can use the archive link below the image to select the photo corresponding to the date of this podcast.


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