[dmalvarado]

Is the light bending around some gravitational point, or is that an* artifact of the telescope itself?

If the former, that is astounding.

Edit: nvm I think I figured it out myself. There are objects next to smeared galaxies that are not distorted. The distorted objects must be behind the gravitational field, and the un-distorted objects in front.

[dougmwne]

It is a gravitational lens. A massive concentration of matter in between us and the galaxies behind it that bends the light and give us an extra magnification factor. Strange to look at, they can also boost the light gathering ability of the telescope and give us valuable information about the very early universe.

[creato]

It looks like there are undistorted galaxies right next to the distorted ones, overlapping even. That suggests it’s not just a telescope artifact.

[nevereveragain]

From the article: > The combined mass of this galaxy cluster acts as a gravitational lens, magnifying much more distant galaxies behind it.

[lapetitejort]

Seems to be multiple objects creating gravitational lensing. I assume that is what's causing the weird smudged galaxy.

[sosodev]

They said the bending isn't an artifact of the telescope.